Methods and systems to meter media content presented on a wireless communication device

ABSTRACT

An example apparatus to generate media monitoring information includes a processor to collect a first data record corresponding to a first media presentation session, and collect a second data record corresponding to a second media presentation. The example apparatus also includes a memory in circuit with the processor, the memory to: store a first end timestamp in the first data record indicative of a first time at which the first media presentation session ended; store a second end timestamp in the second data record indicative of a second time at which the second media presentation session ended; and store the first end timestamp in the second data record.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/930,799, filed on Jun. 28, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/877,413, filed on Oct. 23, 2007, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,514,907, which is a continuation of International PatentApplication Serial No. PCT/US2007/007819, filed on Mar. 27, 2007, whichclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/786,190, filed Mar. 27, 2006, all of which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to audience measurement and, moreparticularly, to methods and systems to meter media content presented ona wireless communication device.

BACKGROUND

Consuming media presentations (i.e., audio and/or video presentations)generally involves listening to audio information and/or viewing videoinformation. Media presentations may include, for example, radioprograms, music, television programs, movies, still images, web pages,video games, etc. Media-centric companies such as, for example,advertising companies, broadcast networks, etc. are often interested inthe viewing and listening interests or habits of their audience tobetter market their products and/or to improve their media programofferings. Companies are often also interested in measuring mediaexposure that indicates when audience members were exposed to mediapresentations, regardless of whether the audience members actuallyconsumed the media presentations. A well-known technique often used tomeasure media consumption, exposure to media, and/or the number ofaudience members that consumed or were exposed to media involvesawarding media consumption or exposure credit to a media presentationfor each audience member that consumed or was exposed to the mediapresentation.

Known techniques used to meter consumption of media or exposure to mediainvolve monitoring audio and/or video presented by televisions and/orstereos. For example, a home may be provided with a stationary homemetering unit that receives and/or detects audio and/or video mediapresented by televisions and/or stereos in the home. The home meteringunit then generates metering information indicative of the presentedaudio and/or video media. Other known techniques involve providingaudience members with respective portable metering devices equipped withaudio and/or video detectors to detect the audio and/or video presentedby the televisions and/or stereos in the home or otherwise in proximityto the portable metering devices. The portable metering devices thengenerate metering information based on the detected audio and/or videomedia.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example media measuremententity that is configured to monitor metering information generated by aplurality of wireless communication devices configured to receive mediacontent from a media content provider.

FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed depiction of a panel member wirelesscommunication device that generates panel metering information and acontrol wireless communication device that generates reference meteringinformation used to validate and/or analyze the panel meteringinformation.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed depiction of a panel member wirelesscommunication device that generates panel metering information and abroadcast monitor that generates reference metering information used tovalidate and/or analyze the panel metering information.

FIG. 4 depicts an example device identification data structure that maybe used to store identification information associated with a panelmember's wireless communication device.

FIG. 5 depicts an example device status information data structure thatmay be used to store device status information associated with a panelmember's wireless communication device.

FIG. 6 depicts an example demographic information data structure thatmay be used to store demographic information associated with a panelmember.

FIG. 7 depicts an example usage information data structure that may beused to store usage information associated with a panel member'swireless communication device.

FIG. 8 depicts an example viewing session information data structurethat may be used to store viewing session information associated with apanel member's wireless communication device.

FIG. 9 depicts an example content session information data structurethat may be used to store content session information associated with apanel member's wireless communication device.

FIG. 10 depicts an example channel lineup and content programming datastructure that may be used by the media measurement entity of FIGS. 1-3to analyze and/or validate the metering information generated by panelmember wireless communication devices.

FIG. 11 depicts example metering data stored using an extensible markuplanguage format.

FIG. 12 illustrates a detailed depiction of one of the plurality ofexample wireless communication devices of FIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example metering information processing systemthat may be used to process panel metering information at the mediameasurement entity of FIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to obtain panel members and to generate and/or collect panelmetering information.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to obtain demographic information associated with panelmembers.

FIGS. 16A and 16B depict a flowchart representative of an exampleprocess that may be performed to generate and/or collect panel meteringinformation.

FIG. 17 is another flowchart representative of an example process thatmay be performed to generate and/or collect panel metering information.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to collect reference metering information.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to collect panel metering information from the wirelesscommunication devices of FIGS. 1-3.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are flowcharts representative of example processesthat may be performed to validate and analyze panel meteringinformation.

FIGS. 21A and 21B depict a flowchart representative of an exampleprocess that may be performed to retrieve panel metering information foranalysis.

FIG. 22A is a front view and FIG. 22B is a side view of an exampleimplementation of the example wireless communication devices of FIGS.1-3.

FIG. 23 depicts an example add-on metering module that may be installedin the wireless communication devices of FIGS. 1-3, 22A, and 22B toreceive audio signals from a microphone line of the wirelesscommunication device and generate panel metering information.

FIG. 24 depicts an example event data structure that a meter of FIGS. 2and 3 may use to store operation or event information indicative of theoperating status of the wireless communication device of FIGS. 1-3, 22A,22B, and 23.

FIG. 25 depicts an example signature data structure that the meter ofFIGS. 2 and 3 may use to store generated signatures.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to generate signatures based on audio detected by a microphoneof a wireless communication device of FIGS. 1-3, 22A, 22B, and 23.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to analyze signatures generated by the wireless communicationdevice of FIGS. 1-3, 22A, 22B, and 23.

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of an example processor system that may beused to perform the example processes of FIGS. 14, 15, 16A, 16B, 17-19,20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 26, and 27 to implement the example systems,apparatus, and/or methods described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The example methods and apparatus described herein may be used to metermedia content presented on a wireless communication device. An examplemethod of monitoring media presented by a wireless communication deviceinvolves monitoring media content presented by the wirelesscommunication device, collecting media metering information associatedwith the presented media content, and communicating the media meteringinformation to a metering entity to analyze media consumption or mediaexposure of audience members.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example media measuremententity 102 that is configured to analyze panel metering informationgenerated by a plurality of wireless communication devices 104configured to receive media content from a media content provider 106.The wireless communication devices 104 may be, for example, cellulartelephones, pagers, any cellular communication device (e.g., handheldcellular communication devices), personal digital assistants (“PDA's”),handheld wireless computers, wireless gaming devices, or any otherwireless communication device that may be used to receive media contentfrom the media content provider and present the received media content.In some example implementations, a wireless communication device 104 maybe implemented using a cellular mobile telephone having a display, aspeaker, and/or a headset jack for presenting media content to a user.As used herein, a cellular communication device is a device thatcommunicates with one or more transceiver towers having respectivewireless telecommunication base stations connected thereto to exchangeinformation (e.g., voice information, data, control information, etc.)with a telecommunications system. The transceiver towers are located inrespective cell areas or cell sites throughout a geographic area. Thecellular communication device can be configured to work in connectionwith any wireless telecommunication standard including any analog and/ordigital communication standards such as, for example, Advanced MobilePhone System (AMPS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time DivisionMultiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM),Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), General Packet RadioService (GPRS), Personal Digital Communications (PDC), PersonalCommunication Services (PCS), Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), etc.

The media content may include, for example, video content (e.g.,television programming, movies, animations, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WindowsMedia Video (“WMV”), QuickTime® Movie, Real Video, etc.), audio content(e.g., radio programming, Internet radio, satellite radio, MPEG-3,Windows Media Audio (“WMA”), Real Audio, etc.), video game content,graphics content (e.g., electronic art, photos, pictures, etc.),Internet information (e.g., web pages, rich site summary (“RSS”), textnotifications, etc.), interactive media content, or any other contentthat may be delivered by the media content provider 106. The mediacontent may include, for example, entertainment content, educationalcontent, news, advertising, demographics-based targeted advertising,geographic-based targeted advertising, interest-based targetedadvertising, etc. The media content provider 106 may deliver the mediacontent in compressed and/or uncompressed formats and in encryptedand/or unencrypted formats. Although one media content provider (e.g.,the media content provider 106) is shown, any quantity of media contentproviders may deliver media content to the wireless communicationdevices 104, and the wireless communication devices 104 are configuredto generate panel metering information associated with media contentdelivered by any of the media content providers.

Panel metering information may be generated based on informationembedded in, for example, header fields or any other fields oftransmitted network data packets used to deliver media content.Additionally or alternatively, some of the panel metering informationmay be embedded in the media content information and may be collectedwhile decoding (e.g., decompressing, reconstructing, rendering, etc.)the media content. Example information that may be embedded in datatransmitted by the media content provider 106 to generate panel meteringinformation is described below in connection with FIG. 9. In someexample implementations, ancillary codes (e.g., audio codes, videocodes, etc.) may be embedded in media content (by, for example, themedia content provider 106, media producers, media networks, etc.) andextracted therefrom by the wireless communication devices 104 togenerate the panel metering information. Additionally or alternatively,the wireless communication devices 104 may generate video and/or audiosignatures based on the presented media content. Another example methodthat may be used to generate panel metering information involvespresenting surveys or individual questions to the panel members 108 viatheir respective wireless communication devices 104. The surveys orquestions may be configured to obtain subjective feedback from the panelmembers 108 pertaining to their likes, dislikes, or preferencesassociated with media content presented by the wireless communicationdevices 104.

In some example implementations, panel metering information may alsoinclude information indicative of web browser usage (e.g., web sitesvisited) and interactive application usage (e.g., products investigated,purchases made, etc.). Example interactive usage that can be meteredincludes detecting advertisements clicked on or selected by a user tofurther investigate or obtain more information about the advertisedproduct. For example, a metering process may be configured to trap,intercept, or otherwise detect user selections to detect when a personselects (e.g., clicks) on an advertisement or a menu option to retrievefurther information on the advertised product. In addition, the panelmetering information may include location information indicative of thegeographic location of the wireless communication devices 104 whilepresenting media content. The location information may be generatedusing location detection devices (e.g., global position system (“GPS”)devices, dead reckoning devices, electronic compasses, accelerometers,location code detectors, etc.) in the wireless communication devices 104or using triangulation techniques involving detecting distances fromvarious cellular and/or media broadcast transmission towers.Additionally or alternatively, the location information may beindicative of the location of a cell tower or any wireless networkaccess point (e.g., an IEEE 802.11 access point, a Wi-FI® access point,a Bluetooth® access point, etc.) transmitting the media content to thewireless communication devices 104. For example, the panel meteringinformation may include cellular tower identifiers and/or broadcasttower identifiers identifying one or more cellular towers and/or one ormore broadcast towers from which the wireless communication devices 104receive media content.

The media measurement entity 102 may generate reports that include mediaconsumption information, media exposure information, media ratings,perceived preferences of the panel members 108, wireless communicationdevice usage information, etc. The media measurement entity 102 maydeliver the reports to the media content provider 106 and/or any otherentity (e.g., a wireless communications service provider 120, mediacontent producers, advertising companies, etc.) requesting suchinformation.

As indicated in FIG. 1, the media content provider 106 delivers mediacontent to the wireless communication devices 104 and the wirelesscommunication devices 104, in turn, communicate panel meteringinformation to the media content provider 106 and/or directly to themedia measurement entity 102. When an audience member or a panel member108 selects particular media content via a respective wirelesscommunication device 104, the wireless communication device 104 requeststhe selected media content from the media content provider 106. Themedia content provider 106, in turn, delivers the requested mediacontent to the requesting wireless communication device 104 using aunicast communication. Additionally or alternatively, the media contentprovider 106 may continuously deliver a plurality of media content usingmedia broadcast or multicast technologies. The wireless communicationdevices 104 may then select a particular media program (e.g., abroadcasted or multicasted media program) to decode in response to amedia selection made by the panel member 108.

A broadcast communication delivers the same data to all of the wirelesscommunication devices 104 that are within range to receive communicationsignals from a cell tower or a plurality of cell towers used to transmitthe broadcast communication. A multicast communication delivers the samedata to selected ones of the wireless communication devices 104 or aselected subset of the wireless communication devices 104 that arewithin range to receive communication signals from a cell tower or aplurality of cell towers used to transmit the multicast communication.For example, where two of the wireless communication devices 104 arewithin range of receiving communications from a cell tower used totransmit multicast data and only one of the wireless communicationdevices 104 is selected (e.g., based on pay-per-view, subscription basedselection, etc.) to receive the multicast data, the selected wirelesscommunication device 104 will be able to receive and present the mediacontent in the multicast data while the non-selected wirelesscommunication device 104 will not be able to receive and present themedia content. The wireless communication devices 104 selected toreceive the multicast communication may be specified in the multicastdata stream using one or more types of identification informationincluding, for example, internet protocol (IP) addresses, electronicserial numbers (ESN's), subscriber identity module (SIM) cardidentifiers, phone numbers, media terminal identifiers, etc.

In some example implementations, each of the wireless communicationdevices 104 or some of the wireless communication devices 104 may beconfigured to establish a back channel link (e.g., a return channel, areverse channel, a return path, etc.) with the media content provider106 or any other entity associated with transmitting media content ormetering. A back channel link may be used to exchange informationbetween a wireless communication device 104 and another entity. Theinformation may include control commands communicated by the mediacontent provider 106 or any other entity to the wireless communicationdevice 104 to control (e.g., start, stop, pause, skip, fast forward,rewind, etc.) a presentation of media content. The information may alsoinclude interactive commands or other interactive data exchanged betweenthe wireless communication device 104 and the media content provider106. The information may also include targeted advertising delivered bythe media content provider 106 or another entity to a wirelesscommunication device 104 based on, for example, demographic informationassociated with a user of the wireless communication device 104 or ageographic location of the wireless communication device 104. Theinformation may include any other information described below. Theexample apparatus and methods described herein may be configured tomonitor information communicated via the back channels associated withthe wireless communication devices 104 to generate panel meteringinformation. In this manner, metering information may be collected inconnection with, for example, targeted advertising, quality of service,media content segmented by geographic locations, time shifting of mediacontent presentations, etc. In some example implementations, theinformation described above as being communicated via the back channelcan alternatively or additionally be communicated via a forward link ofa broadcast, a multicast, or a unicast communication and can bemonitored on the forward link to generate metering information.

The media content provider 106 may use one or more communicationstandards or protocols to deliver media content. For example, the mediacontent provider 106 may deliver the media content using a plurality offrequency bands, sender IP addresses, etc. to which the wirelesscommunication devices 104 may tune. An example media delivery technologythat the media content provider 106 may use to deliver media includes aforward link only (“FLO”) technology that is defined by theTelecommunications Industry Association (“TIA®”) in standardTIA-TR47.1—“Terrestrial Mobile Multimedia Multicast based on ForwardLink Only Technology.” Example media content delivery technologies andservices based on FLO technology are developed and sold by MediaFLO USA,Inc. of San Diego, Calif. Another example media delivery technology thatthe media content provider 106 may use to deliver media includes DigitalVideo Broadcasting for Handheld devices technology (“DVB-H”), which isdefined in standard TIA-TR-47.2—“Terrestrial Mobile Multimedia Multicastbased on DVB-H Technology.” In other example implementations, the mediacontent provider 106 may deliver the plurality of media content usingother communication standards including, for example, a time divisionmultiple access (“TDMA”) communication protocol, the global system formobile (“GSM®”) communication protocol, a code division multiple access(“CDMA”) communication protocol, a wideband CDMA communication protocol,etc.

The media content provider 106 may store the panel metering informationreceived from the wireless communication devices 104 in a panel meteringinformation data structure 110. The media content provider 106 mayperiodically or aperiodically communicate the panel member meteringinformation to the media measurement entity 102. In the illustratedexample, the media measurement entity 102 stores the panel meteringinformation in another panel metering information data structure 112 andsubsequently validates and/or analyzes the panel member meteringinformation as described below. Although not shown, in alternativeexample implementations, the wireless communication devices 104 maycommunicate the panel metering information to a wireless communicationsservice provider 120 and the wireless communications service provider120 may, in turn, communicate the panel metering information to themedia measurement entity 102. In yet another alternative exampleimplementation, the wireless communication devices 104 may communicatethe panel metering information directly to the media measurement entity102 and/or any combination of the media measurement entity 102, themedia content provider 106 and/or the wireless communications serviceprovider 120. In any case, any one or more of the media measuremententity 102, the media content provider 106, and the wirelesscommunications service provider 120 can be used to implement a centralcollection facility for the panel metering information from the wirelesscommunication devices 104.

The media measurement entity 102 may use reference metering informationto analyze the panel member metering information. Reference meteringinformation includes metering information of all or a subset of all themedia content delivered by the media content provider 106. For example,for a given time period (e.g., a 24-hour period, a week period, etc.),the media measurement entity 102 may meter a different (or same) subsetof media content than that metered during other previous or subsequenttimer periods. To generate reference metering information, the mediameasurement entity 102 includes a broadcast monitor 114 and a controlwireless communication device 116. In the illustrated example, thebroadcast monitor 114 includes a media content meter (e.g., a mediacontent meter 302 of FIG. 3) that is configured to monitor and meter allof the media content delivered by the media content provider 106. Forinstance, if the media content provider 106 broadcasts or multicasts aplurality of media programs simultaneously via a plurality of channels(e.g., frequency channels, time slot channels, code division channels,etc.), the broadcast monitor 114 monitors all of the channels andgenerates and/or collects the reference metering information associatedwith each of the media programs. In the illustrated example, thebroadcast monitor 114 is configured to store the reference meteringinformation in a reference metering information data structure 118 forsubsequent use by the media measurement entity 102 to validate and/oranalyze the panel metering information generated by the wirelesscommunication devices 104.

In alternative example implementations, the broadcast monitor 114 may beconfigured to monitor only a subset of the media content delivered bythe media content provider 106. For example, the media measuremententity 102 or any other entity (e.g., customers that purchase servicesto obtain the metered information or metering analysis reports) mayspecify a subset of the media content to be metered, and the broadcastmonitor 114 may be configured to monitor the identified subset of mediacontent typically consumed by persons associated with a particular agerange and generate and/or collect reference metering information foronly the identified subset of media content.

In the illustrated example, the control wireless communication device116 includes a media content meter (e.g., a media content meter 202 ofFIG. 2) that is configured to monitor and meter only a subset of themedia content delivered by the media content provider 106. The mediameasurement entity 102 may associate the control wireless communicationdevice 116 with a subset of audience members categorized according to aparticular demographic characteristic (e.g., age, income level, familystatus, geographic location, etc.). Example demographic information isdescribed below in connection with FIG. 6. The control wirelesscommunication device 116 may monitor an identified subset of mediacontent typically consumed by the subset of audience members andgenerate and/or collect reference metering information for only theidentified subset of media content. Although only one control wirelesscommunication device (e.g., the control wireless communication device116) is depicted, the media measurement entity 102 may include aplurality of control wireless communication devices substantiallysimilar or identical to the control wireless communication device 116.The media measurement entity 102 may configure each of the controlwireless communication devices to monitor respective subsets of mediaprograms identified as typically consumed by respective groups ofaudience members categorized by, for example, demographiccharacteristics. In the illustrated example, the control wirelesscommunication device 116 and any other control wireless communicationdevices store the reference metering information in the referencemetering information data structure 118.

In some example implementations, the reference metering informationcollected by the control wireless communication device 116 can becompared with known media content information (e.g., channel lineup andprogram scheduling information obtained from the media content provider106) to confirm whether the metering software or hardware (e.g., themeter 202 of FIG. 2) in the control wireless communication device 116 isproducing accurate metering information. Different modes of operation ofcontrol wireless communication devices (e.g., the control wirelesscommunication device 116) can be tested based on known media contentinformation. For example, a first control wireless communication devicemay be configured to collect reference metering information based ononly a particular media content channel. A second control wirelesscommunication device may be configured to collect reference meteringinformation from all channels while spending a predetermined amount oftime (e.g., five seconds, five minutes, etc.) on each channel andcycling through all the channels repeatedly. The media measuremententity 102 can then analyze the reference metering information to ensurethat it is accurate based on known information (e.g., channel lineup andprogram scheduling information obtained from the media content provider106). In some example implementations, whether the metering softwareand/or hardware in the control wireless communication device 116 isproducing accurate metering information may be indicative of whether themetering software and/or hardware in the wireless communication devices104 in the field are producing accurate metering information when, forexample, the metering software and/or hardware in the control wirelesscommunication device 116 is identical or substantially similar to themetering software and/or hardware in the wireless communication devices104 in the field.

The wireless communications service provider 120 may provide wirelesscommunication services to the wireless communication devices 104. Thewireless communication services may include voice services and/or dataservices. The wireless communications service provider 120 includes anaccount information data structure 122 to store account information(e.g., name, postal address, wireless communication deviceidentification, wireless communication device make/model, voice/dataplan type, etc.) for the subscribers of the wireless communicationsservice provider 120 including at least some of the panel members 108.

Although the media content provider 106 is depicted in FIG. 1 asdelivering media content directly to the wireless communication devices104, in alternative example implementations, the media content provider106 may deliver media content to the wireless communications serviceprovider 120 and the wireless communications service provider 120 may,in turn, deliver the media content to the wireless communication devices104 using, for example, any one or more of the media content deliverytechnologies described above or any other delivery technology.

The media measurement entity 102 may use various methods to select thepanel members 108 to participate in a market research program. In someexample implementations, all wireless communication devices used bysubscribers of the media content provider 106 and/or the wirelesscommunications service provider 120 may generate and/or collect panelmetering information. In another example implementation, the mediameasurement entity 102, the media content provider 106, and/or thewireless communications service provider 120 may randomly select asubset of the wireless communication devices 104 to continuously or atpredefined times generate panel metering information. Randomly selectedsubsets of the wireless communication devices 104 may be reselected atpredefined intervals (e.g., every day, every 90 days, etc.).Additionally or alternatively, the media measurement entity 102 mayadvertise opportunities for participation in a market research meteringprogram via the media content provider 106 and/or the wirelesscommunications service provider 120. In some example implementations,agents or representatives of the media measurement entity 102 maypersonally visit homes of potential panel members to offer opportunitiesto participate in the metering program. Alternatively or additionally,the media measurement entity 102 may advertise the metering programdirectly to users of the wireless communication devices 104, which mayinclude subscribers of the media content provider 106 and/or subscribersof the wireless communications service provider 120. For example, themedia measurement entity 102 may advertise the metering program bysending messages (e.g., via e-mail, via a web page, via wirelessapplication protocol (“WAP”), etc.) to the wireless communicationdevices 104 and/or a personal computer 124 including a selectable optionindicating a person's consent to participate in the metering program.

When a person provides their approval to participate in the meteringprogram, the person becomes one of the panel members 108 and the panelmember's corresponding wireless communication device 104 is thenconfigured to generate and/or collect panel metering informationwhenever the panel member 108 consumes media or is exposed to mediapresented via the wireless communication device 104. For example, themedia measurement entity 102, the media content provider 106, and/or thewireless communications service provider 120 may transmit meteringsoftware (e.g., a media content meter 202 of FIG. 2) to the wirelesscommunication device 104 to enable metering. Alternatively, the meteringsoftware and/or hardware may be pre-installed on the wirelesscommunication device 104 so that the media measurement entity 102, themedia content provider 106, and/or the wireless communications serviceprovider 120 need only communicate to the wireless communication device104 a message instructing the wireless communication device 104 toenable the metering software and/or hardware. The metering softwareand/or hardware may be configured to monitor all of the media contentpresented by the wireless communication device 104 or only a subset ofmedia content. For instance, the metering software may be configured tomonitor media content during particular times, media content deliveredvia particular channels, and/or only particular media contentprogramming.

The media measurement entity 102 may analyze the panel meteringinformation using different anonymity levels selected by the panelmembers 108. For example, the media measurement entity 102 may analyzethe panel metering information by maintaining anonymity of the panelmembers 108 (e.g., using no demographic information associated with thepanel members 108) or in connection with different amounts or levels ofdemographic and/or personal information pertaining to the panel members108. The media measurement entity 102 may collect demographic and/orpersonal information from randomly selected panel members 108 and/orfrom specifically selected panel members 108. For example, randomsurveys may be administered to determine typical demographics ofwireless communication device users.

To obtain demographic and/or personal information, the media measuremententity 102 may provide a web page that the panel members 108 may accessvia the wireless communication devices 104 and/or the personal computer124 to provide their demographic and/or personal information. Forexample, in response to a panel member 108 electing to participate in ametering program, software on the member's wireless communication device104 may display a user interface screen via which the panel member 108can provide demographic and/or personal information. Alternatively, thesoftware on the wireless communication device 104 may prompt the panelmember 108 to access a web site via, for example, the wirelesscommunication device 104, the personal computer 124, and/or any otherweb-enabled device to provide demographic and/or personal information.

Alternatively or additionally, the media measurement entity 102 mayprovide a telephone-accessible voice interface (e.g., a voiceinteractive response system, an agent, etc.) that the panel members 108can access using the wireless communication devices 104 and/or a wiredor landline telephone to provide their demographic and/or personalinformation. The voice interface may be called by the panel members 108or an agent of the media measurement entity 102 may call the panelmembers 108.

In other example implementations, the media measurement entity 102 mayobtain account information associated with the panel members 108 fromthe account information data structure 122 of the wirelesscommunications service provider 120. The account information datastructure 122 may store encrypted information so that the mediameasurement entity 102 can retrieve only select information per thediscretion of the wireless communications service provider 120 and/orthe panel members 108. For example, the media measurement entity 102 mayprovide a panel member phone number to the account information datastructure 122 to retrieve only the zip code associated with that phonenumber. The media measurement entity 102 may then use zip codes of thepanel members 108 to determine typical demographics (e.g., income,employment, etc.) associated with the geographic areas in which thepanel members 108 live. Other account information that may be availableto the media measurement entity 102 includes, for example, postaladdress, birth date, etc.

In some example implementations, the demographic information may bestored in the wireless communication devices 104 and the meteringsoftware may be configured to tag the panel metering information withthe demographic information. In this manner, the wireless communicationdevices 104 can transmit the panel metering information along with thedemographic information to the media content provider 106. In analternative example implementation, the demographic information isstored in a demographic information data structure 126 at the mediameasurement entity 102. The demographic information in the demographicinformation data structure 126 for each panel member 108 may be taggedwith a unique identifier (e.g., a wireless device identifier) associatedwith that panel member 108. In addition, each of the wirelesscommunication devices 104 may tag panel metering information with arespective unique identifier. In this manner, the media measuremententity 102 can associate demographic information stored in thedemographic information data structure 126 with the panel meteringinformation from the wireless communication devices 104 based on theunique identifiers used to tag the demographic information and the panelmetering information.

To process the metering information (e.g., the panel meteringinformation, the reference metering information, etc.), the mediameasurement entity 102 is provided with an example metering informationprocessing system 128. The example metering information processingsystem 128 is configured to retrieve metering information from themetering information data structures 112 and 118 and demographicinformation from the demographic information data structure 126. In theillustrated example, the example metering information processing system128 is configured to perform analysis on any one or more types ofmetering information and/or the demographic information to generateanalysis results indicative of media consumption and/or media exposure.In addition, the example metering information processing system 128 maybe configured to generate reports based on the analysis results.

FIG. 2 illustrates a detailed depiction of a panel member wirelesscommunication device 104 that generates panel metering information and acontrol wireless communication device 116 that generates referencemetering information used to validate the panel metering information. Asshown in FIG. 2, each of the panel member wireless communication device104 and the control wireless communication device 116 includes a mediacontent meter (“meter”) 202. In the illustrated example, the meters 202are configured to monitor and meter media content presented by thewireless communication devices 104 and 116 to generate and/or collectmetering information. In particular, the meter 202 associated with thepanel member wireless communication device 104 generates panel meteringinformation and stores the panel metering information in a panelmetering file 204. In the illustrated example, the panel metering file204 can be used to store any type of metering information describedbelow in connection with FIGS. 4, 5, 7-9, and 11 and/or any other typesof metering information. The meter 202 associated with the controlwireless communication device 116 generates reference meteringinformation and stores the reference metering information in a referencemetering file 206.

The media measurement entity 102 periodically or aperiodically receivesmetering information (e.g., panel metering information and referencemetering information) to perform subsequent analyses. In particular, thepanel member wireless communication device 104 may periodically oraperiodically communicate the panel metering information stored in thepanel metering file 204 to the media content provider 106. The mediacontent provider 106 stores the received panel metering information inthe panel metering information data structure 110 and periodically oraperiodically communicates the panel metering information to the mediameasurement entity 102, which stores the panel metering information inthe panel metering information data structure 112. The control wirelesscommunication device 116 communicates the reference metering informationstored in the control metering file 206 to the media measurement entity102, which stores the reference metering information in the referencemetering information data structure 118.

The media measurement entity 102 initially validates the panel meteringinformation based on the reference metering information to ensure thatthe panel metering information is valid (e.g., accurate, trustworthy,indicative of media consumed by the panel members 108 of FIG. 1, etc.).To validate the panel metering information, the media measurement entity102 is provided with a validator 208, which may be implemented using,for example, a comparator. In the illustrated example, the validator 208is configured to retrieve panel metering information from the panelmetering information data structure 112 and reference meteringinformation from the reference metering information data structure 118.For each validation operation, the validator 208 retrieves and comparescorresponding panel and reference metering information records orentries associated with the same time of day, date, and media channel orstation. If the panel metering information does not substantially matchthe corresponding reference metering information or if the referencemetering information data structure 118 does not have reference meteringinformation corresponding to the panel metering information, then thevalidator 208 indicates the panel metering information invalid. Forexample, if the reference metering information indicates that no mediacontent was provided over a particular channel at a particular time on aparticular day, then any panel metering information indicating that awireless communication device 104 was tuned to that channel at that timeon that day is regarded as invalid or discarded.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed depiction of the panel member wirelesscommunication device 104 that generates panel metering information andthe broadcast monitor 114 that generates reference metering informationused to validate the panel metering information. As described above, inthe illustrated example, the broadcast monitor 114 is configured tomonitor and meter all of the media content delivered by the mediacontent provider 106. To meter the media content, the broadcast monitor114 is provided with a media content meter (“meter”) 302. The meter 302stores the reference metering information in a reference metering file304. The broadcast monitor 114 then communicates the reference meteringinformation from the reference metering file 304 to the referencemetering information data structure 118. In this manner, the validator208 can subsequently validate the panel metering information generatedby the panel member wireless communication device 104 as described abovein connection with FIG. 2.

In the illustrated examples of FIGS. 2 and 3, the validator 208 alsovalidates the panel metering information using other validationtechniques. For example, the validator 208 may check the panel meteringinformation for consistency to ensure that the panel meteringinformation does not include any erratic (senseless media consumption orexposure patterns) or corrupted information. The validator 208 maydiscard (or tag as invalid) any panel metering information indicative ofimpossible or unlikely media consumption or exposure events (e.g.,presenting two or more media programs broadcast at the same time overdifferent channels). The validator 208 may also discard (or tag asinvalid) any panel metering information indicating that the respectivewireless communication device and/or media decode/presentation hardwareand/or software thereof was/were turned off (e.g., based on on/offstatus information 502 of FIG. 5). The validator 208 may also discard(or tag as invalid) panel metering information indicative of short mediaconsumption or exposure events or impossibly long media consumption orexposure events (e.g., based on viewing session start and end times 802and 804 of FIG. 8 and/or content session start and end times 902 and 904of FIG. 9). In some example implementations, the validator 208 may alsodiscard (or tag as invalid) any panel metering information indicatingthat the respective wireless communication device 104 was in use for acall while presenting media content (e.g., based on call information 506of FIG. 5). The validator 208 may also discard (or tag as invalid) panelmetering information collected while the wireless communication device104 was receiving a signal strength that was relatively low, inadequate,or below a threshold limit (e.g., based on signal strength information510 of FIG. 5) causing, for example, a video presentation to bedistorted or not clearly visible. The validator 208 may also discard (ortag as invalid) any panel metering information collected while thewireless communication device 104 was not being carried by the panelmember 108 (e.g., based on carrying device information 702 of FIG. 7).Of course, the validator 208 may additionally or alternatively discard(or tag as invalid) panel metering information based on other criteriasuch as, for example, roaming status, time of day, technical issuesaffecting the wireless communication device 104, etc.

FIGS. 4 through 9 depict example data structures that may be used tostore information associated with metering media content presented bythe wireless communication devices 104. The information described inconnection with FIGS. 4-9 may be used as panel metering information inaddition to other panel metering information generated based on orextracted from media content or data packets associated with thedelivery of the media content. The information depicted in the exampledata structures of FIGS. 4 through 9 does not comprise an exhaustivelist. In some example implementations, additional or alternativeinformation may be provided and fewer or more information than thatdepicted in FIGS. 4 through 9 may be provided. For purposes ofdiscussion, the example data structures of FIGS. 4 through 9 aredepicted as tables having a plurality of information fields. In exampleimplementations, the information indicated in each of the example datastructures of FIGS. 4 through 9 may be stored using any otherconfiguration or format. For example, the information may be storedusing look-up tables, text files, databases, etc. In addition, althoughthe example data structures of FIGS. 4 through 9 are depicted asseparate data structures, in some example implementations one or more orportions of the data structures may be combined or any one datastructure may be divided into two or more data structures.

The data structures of FIGS. 4 through 9 may be stored in the wirelesscommunication devices 104 and/or at one or more of the media measuremententity 102, the media content provider 106, and/or the wirelesscommunications service provider 120. The wireless communication devices104 may communicate the information stored therein associated with oneor more of the data structures of FIGS. 4 through 9 to the mediameasurement entity 102. The media measurement entity 102 may use theinformation from the data structures of FIGS. 4 through 9 to performpanel metering information analyses.

Now turning to FIG. 4, an example device identification data structure400 may be used to store identification information associated with apanel member's wireless communication device 104 (FIGS. 1-3). In theillustrated example, to enable the media content provider 106 (FIG. 1)to identify the wireless communication devices 104, the example deviceidentification data structure 400 includes a media terminal identifier402 (e.g., a telephone number, an electronic serial number (“ESN”),etc.). The media content provider 106 may use the media terminalidentifier 402 to communicate requested media content or subscribed tomedia content to respective wireless communication devices 104.

To enable the wireless communications service provider 120 to identifythe wireless communication devices 104, the example deviceidentification data structure 400 includes a wireless device identifier404 (e.g., a telephone number, an electronic serial number (“ESN”), aunique hardware identifier, a media access control (“MAC”) address,etc.). The wireless communications service provider 120 may use thewireless device identifier 404 to enable the wireless communicationdevice 104 to communicate voice and/or data. In addition, the accountinformation (e.g., demographic and/or personal information) stored inthe account information data structure 122 may be tagged with thewireless device identifier 404. In this case, the media measuremententity 102 may obtain the wireless device identifier 404 of each of thewireless communication devices 104 and use the wireless deviceidentifier 404 to retrieve demographic and/or personal information fromthe account information data structure 122.

To identify the wireless communications service provider 120, theexample device identification data structure 400 includes a wirelessnetwork service provider identifier 406. The example deviceidentification data structure 400 also includes a wireless device makeand model 408 and 410. The media measurement entity 102 may use thewireless network service provider identifier 406, the wireless devicemake 408, and/or the wireless device model 410 as demographicinformation to generate media consumption and/or media exposure reports.

FIG. 5 depicts an example device status information data structure 500that may be used to store device status information associated with apanel member's wireless communication device 104. In the illustratedexample, the example device status information data structure 500includes on/off status information 502. The wireless communicationdevices 104 may store time and status information indicative of when thewireless communication devices 104 are turned on and/or turned off. Theexample device status information data structure 500 also includesbattery status information 504. The wireless communication devices 104may store time and status information indicative of when the batteriesof the wireless communication devices 104 have particular energy chargelevels. The example device status information data structure 500 alsoincludes call information 506. The wireless communication devices 104may store time and duration information indicative of when the wirelesscommunication devices 104 were used for making telephone calls. Theexample device status information data structure 500 also includesapplication usage information 508. The wireless communication devices104 may store time and duration information indicative of when softwareapplications on the wireless communication devices 104 were used. Insome example implementations, the application usage information 508 canalso include software application identification information indicativeof the software applications that were used. The example device statusinformation data structure 500 also includes signal strength information510. The wireless communication devices 104 may store time, signalstrength, and duration information indicative of received signalstrengths at particular times for particular durations. For example, ifthe wireless communication device 104 is very distant from a nearesttransceiver tower, the signal strength may be relatively low causing thewireless communication device 104 to receive only partial or distortedmedia content (e.g., a video presentation would be distorted or notclearly visible). In some example implementations, the media measuremententity 102 may use the signal strength information 510 to determine thelocation of the wireless communication device 104 and, in turn,determine the type of media content that was delivered to the wirelesscommunication device 104. Also, the media measurement entity 102 may usethe signal strength information 510 to generate quality of service(“QoS”) information to analyze the panel metering information inconnection with signal strength to, for example, determine how strong orweak signal strengths affected media consumption by users of thewireless communication devices 104 or the users' media exposure.

Although not shown, the example device status information data structure500 may also be provided with hardware and/or software configurations ofthe wireless communication device 104. For example, the example devicestatus information data structure 500 may include total memory, memoryused, presence of subscriber identity module (“SIM”) card, headsetconnected, etc.

FIG. 6 depicts an example demographic information data structure 600that may be used to store demographic information associated with thepanel members 108. In the illustrated example, the demographicinformation data structure 600 includes gender information 602, age(birth date) information 604, income information 606, educationinformation 608, employment information 610, race information 612,occupation information 614, language information 616, and postal zipcode information 618.

FIG. 7 depicts an example usage information data structure 700 that maybe used to store usage information associated with a panel member'swireless communication device 104. To indicate when the panel members108 were carrying their wireless communication devices 104, the exampleusage information data structure 700 includes carrying deviceinformation 702. The wireless communication devices 104 may store date,time, and duration information indicative of when respective panelmembers 108 were carrying their respective wireless communicationdevices 104. For example, each of the wireless communication devices 104may display a user interface screen via which the panel members 108 canprovide the carrying device information 702. Alternatively, the wirelesscommunication devices 104 may be provided with detectors (e.g., motionsensors, temperature sensors, electronic compasses, etc.) to determinewhen the panel members 108 are carrying the wireless communicationdevices 104. In this manner, the wireless communication devices 104 mayautomatically generate the carrying device information 702.

To indicate the time, duration, and nature of technical issuesassociated with the wireless communication devices 104, the exampleusage information data structure 700 includes technical issuesinformation 704. The technical issues information 704 are indicative ofconditions (e.g., problems, device conditions, hardware conditions,software conditions, communication problems, etc.) affecting theoperation or operability of the wireless communication devices 104. Thepanel members 108 may provide the technical issues information 704 totheir wireless communication devices 104 and/or the wirelesscommunication devices 104 may automatically generate the technicalissues information 704.

In some example implementations, the technical issues information 704may include information indicative of broken, damaged, or worn devicehardware (e.g., a damaged display/screen, a damaged speaker/headsetjack, a damaged antenna, damaged buttons, etc.), device resets (e.g.,master resets clearing all memory, configuration resets to defaultsettings, warm boot resets, etc.), application errors (e.g., applicationerrors on startup, inability to launch application plug-ins, extensions,or modules, application execution halts or freezes, applicationterminations or crashes during execution, runtime errors, etc.),communication performance problems (e.g., communication failures,dropped calls, failures to connect calls, failures to receive calls,poor or no network connectivity, failures to receive data, etc.), or anyother types of technical issues. In some cases, the technical issuesinformation 704 may be used to log when the wireless communicationdevice 104 does not have sufficient resources (e.g., latest softwareversions, application plug-ins, memory space, etc.) to presentparticular media content. For example, the wireless communication device104 may not have the required plug-ins or a correct software version todecode and/or present particular media content. Also, the wirelesscommunication device 104 may not have sufficient processing power todecode particular media content and/or sufficient memory space to storeundecoded and/or decoded media content.

In some example implementations, the technical issues information 704may be used to log user-initiated, device-initiated, and/orsystem-initiated events that could affect a user's consumption of orexposure to media content presented by the wireless communication device104. For example, user-initiated events may include events initiated bya user to, for example, navigate away from media content presented by auser. User-initiated events may include, for example, opening adifferent application (e.g., a calendar, a dialing window, a video gamewindow, another media presentation application window, etc.) that mayvisually obstruct a presentation of video content being metered or thatmay be displayed simultaneously with the media content presentationbeing metered (and at least partially distract a user's attention awayfrom the metered media content presentation). Device-initiated eventsmay include, for example, alarm notifications, reminder notifications,low-battery notifications, or any other type of device-initiatednotification or event that could affect a user's consumption of orexposure to media content presented by the wireless communication device104. System-initiated events may include, for example, receiving amessage (e.g., a short messaging service (SMS) text message), receivinga phone call, receiving network system notifications. Device-initiatedor system-initiated events may include any other type of asynchronousevents that may affect a user's consumption of or exposure to mediacontent presented by the wireless communication device 104.

The media measurement entity 102 (FIG. 1) may use the technical issuesinformation 704 during subsequent analysis to determine how much, ifany, media exposure credit or media consumption credit to award, give,assign, or attribute to particular media content presented by thewireless communication device 104. For example, if the technical issuesinformation 704 indicates that the wireless communication device 104 hasa damaged screen, the media measurement entity 102 may credit an audioportion of presented media content but not credit its video portion. Inaddition, the media measurement entity 102 may use the technical issuesinformation 704 to determine reasons for poor consumption of or exposureto particular media content. For example, if the technical issuesinformation 704 indicates that the wireless communication device 104 (orsubstantial quantity of the wireless communication devices 104) did nothave the required software plug-ins, extensions, applications, etc. orrequired media decoders to decode a particular media content, the mediameasurement entity 102 may conclude that analysis data indicating poorconsumption of or exposure to that media content is attributable to thewireless communication device 104 not having the required software.

To indicate date, time, and duration of when the wireless communicationdevices 104 are carried outside of their local calling areas (e.g.,roaming), the example usage information data structure 700 is providedwith roaming information 706. The panel members 108 may provide theroaming information 706 to their wireless communication devices 104and/or the wireless communication devices 104 may automatically generatethe roaming information 706. In some example implementations, theroaming information 706 may also include the area (e.g., geographicarea, calling area, network area, time zone, etc.) in which the wirelesscommunication devices 104 are roaming. In this manner, the mediameasurement entity 102 may use the roaming information to determine thecontent programming schedules or delivery times (e.g., based on achannel lineup and content programming data structure 1000 of FIG. 10)associated with any media content presented by the wirelesscommunication device 104 while roaming. For instance, media contentdelivered in a time zone (e.g., a roaming time zone) other than the hometime zone of the wireless communication device 104 may be deliveredaccording to a time schedule (e.g., media content programs are shiftedby one-hour) different from that of the home time zone of the wirelesscommunication device 104.

FIG. 8 depicts an example viewing session information data structure 800that may be used to store viewing session information associated with apanel member's wireless communication device 104, and FIG. 9 depicts anexample content session information data structure 900 that may be usedto store content session information associated with a panel member'swireless communication device 104. The example viewing sessioninformation data structure 800 and the example content sessioninformation data structure 900 include some of the panel meteringinformation generated and/or collected by the wireless communicationdevices 104 based on the media content provided by the media contentprovider 106 and presented by the wireless communication devices 104.

The example viewing session information data structure 800 (FIG. 8) isused to store panel metering information indicative of an entire mediapresentation duration or media presentation session during which thewireless communication device 104 is presenting media content. Eachmedia presentation session may include one or more content sessions. Acontent session is associated with a particular program, show, or mediaprogram that one of the wireless communication devices 104 presentsduring a viewing session. If the wireless communication device 104presents two consecutive media programs (e.g., two consecutivetelevision shows), then one viewing session includes two contentsessions. The example content session information data structure 900(FIG. 9) is used to store panel metering information indicative ofparticular media content programs presented by the wirelesscommunication devices 104 during viewing sessions.

As shown in FIG. 8, to store start times indicative of when the wirelesscommunication devices 104 begin to present media content, the exampleviewing session information data structure 800 includes viewing sessionstart time information 802. To store end times indicative of when thewireless communication devices 104 stop presenting media content, theexample viewing session information data structure 800 includes viewingsession end time information 804.

The example viewing session information data structure 800 also includesprevious viewing session end time information 806. The previous viewingsession end time information 806 may be used to store in each viewingsession data record 808 a-c the end time information 804 stored in theprevious data record. The media measurement entity 102 may use theprevious viewing session end time information 806 to determine whetherany record entries (e.g., the record entries 808 a-c) have been droppedor deleted by comparing the previous viewing end time sessioninformation 806 of a data record (e.g., the data record 808 c) with theend time information 804 of an immediately previous data record (e.g.,the data record 808 b). If the previous viewing session end timeinformation 806 of the data record 808 c and the end time information804 of the data record 808 b do not match, the media measurement entity102 can conclude that data records are missing between the data records808 b and 808 c. For example, the data records may have been lost duringtransmission from the wireless communication device 104 to the mediameasurement entity 102 or may be corrupted or may not have beengenerated correctly.

To indicate the type of software or application that the wirelesscommunication devices 104 use to present media content for each viewingsession, the example viewing session information data structure 800includes presentation software information 810. The wirelesscommunication devices 104 may provide the name and version of thesoftware used to present media content for each viewing session.

Turning to FIG. 9, some or all of panel metering information shown inthe example content session information data structure 900 may beembedded in the data delivered by the media content provider 106 (FIG.1). For example, some of the panel metering information shown in FIG. 9may be included in header fields or any other fields of transmittednetwork data packets used to delivery media content. Additionally oralternatively, some of the panel metering information may be embedded inthe media content information and may be extracted while decoding (e.g.,decompressing, reconstructing, rendering, etc.) the media content.

As shown in FIG. 9, the example content session information datastructure 900 includes content session start time information 902 andcontent session end time information 904 to indicate when the wirelesscommunication devices 104 start and stop presenting particular mediacontent. The example content session information data structure 900 alsoincludes service provider information 906 to indicate the identification(e.g., name, identification code, etc.) of the media content serviceprovider 106 (FIG. 1). Delivery type information 908 is used to indicatethe communication protocols and/or transmission mediums used by themedia content provider 106 to deliver the media content. In an exampleimplementation, options for the delivery type information 908 mayinclude over-the-air (“OTA”) terrestrial delivery (e.g., FLO, DVB-H,etc.), OTA satellite delivery, Internet protocol (“IP”) multicast,broadcast, unicast, general packet radio service (“GPRS”), evolutiondata only (“EVDO”), etc. Content type information 910 is used toindicate the type of media delivered such as, for example, video media,audio media, video/audio media, video games, graphics, web pages,Internet data, etc. Additionally or alternatively, the content typeinformation 910 may be used to indicate whether media content was livebroadcast media or a downloaded clip (e.g., delivered per-request,on-demand delivery, etc.).

To identify particular media programs, the example content sessioninformation data structure 900 includes program asset ID information912, program name/title information 914, and episode name information916. To identify distributors and providers of media content, theexample content session information data structure 900 includes contentdistributor information 918 and content provider information 920.

The example content session information data structure 900 also includeschannel number information 922 (e.g., a media programming providerchannel number such as channel 9) and channel name information 924(e.g., station call letters such as WBBM). To determine time offsetsassociated with delivery of IP packets, the example content sessioninformation data structure 900 is provided with IP time offsetinformation 925. For example, the IP time offset information 925 mayindicate the amount of time (e.g., due to network latency, switch/routerhops, media content provider delay, etc.) required for an IP networkpacket to propagate from a source (e.g., the media content provider 106of FIG. 1, a media content producer, etc.) to a destination (e.g., thewireless communication devices 104, the control wireless communicationdevice 116, the broadcast monitor 114, etc.). The IP time offsetinformation 925 may be used by the media measurement entity 102 togenerate media consumption and/or exposure information associated withquality of service (“QoS”). In some example implementations, QoSinformation may also be generated based on other communication linkcharacteristics such as, for example, the signal strength information510 (FIG. 5). For example, the media measurement entity 102 maydetermine how QoS affects media consumption or exposure of particularmedia content by the panel members 108.

To determine a location of a wireless communication device 104 when, forexample, the wireless communication device 104 received and/or presenteda media presentation, the information data structure is provided with atransmitting tower ID 926 and location information 927. In theillustrated example, the transmitting tower ID 926 may include one ormore cellular tower identifiers and/or broadcast tower identifiersidentifying one or more cellular towers and/or one or more broadcasttowers from which the wireless communication devices 104 receive mediacontent. The media measurement entity 102 can then use the transmittingtower ID 926 to determine the location of cell towers that transmittedmedia content to the wireless communication devices 104 and/or thelocations of the wireless communication devices 104 when they receivedand/or presented the media content. In some example implementations, thedata structure 900 may additionally or alternatively be provided with anaccess point ID that identifies wireless network access points (e.g.,IEEE 802.11 access points, Wi-Fi® access points, Bluetooth® accesspoints, etc.) that transmitted media content to the wirelesscommunication devices 104.

In the illustrated example, the location information 927 may beindicative of the location of the wireless communication devices 104while receiving and/or presenting media content. The locationinformation 927 may be generated using location detection devices (e.g.,global position system (“GPS”) devices) in the wireless communicationdevices 104, using triangulation techniques involving detectingdistances from various cellular and/or media broadcast transmissiontowers, and/or using any other location determination system.

To identify technical media content specifications 928 (e.g., mediacontent quality) associated with presented media content, the examplecontent session information data structure 900 includes frames persecond information 930, video resolution information 932, and audioquality information 934 (e.g., audio sampling rate, digital audio bitrate, stereo mode, mono mode, etc.). Although not shown, the technicalmedia content specifications 928 may also include digital video bit rateor any other media bit rate information.

To identify usage data 936 associated with usage of media presentationsoftware during each content session, the example content sessioninformation data structure 900 includes event count information 938,which starts at one for each session and increments as the sessionprogresses. The example content session information data structure 900also includes timestamp information 940 indicative of when the mediapresentation software is active. Duration information 942 indicates theamount of time for which the media presentation software is activelypresenting media content (e.g., not paused or stopped by, for example, auser or a preemptive phone call) or the amount of time for which themedia presentation software is in a particular operating mode (e.g.,paused). Operation mode information 944 indicates a media presentationmode of the media presentation software such as, for example, whetherthe media presentation software was in a pause mode, a play mode, a stopmode, a fast forward mode, a rewind mode, etc. Time offset information946 indicates whether media content was delivered live or on a delay(e.g., a one-second delay, delay may be dependent on duration of pauseor other user input (rewind, fast forward, stop, etc.), etc.).

To identify system configurations associated with the presentation ofmedia content, the example content session information data structure900 is provided with presentation information 948. The presentationinformation 948 includes volume level information 950 indicative of thevolume level of the wireless communication device 104 while presentingmedia content. The presentation information 948 also includesheadset/speaker information 952 indicative of whether a headset or aspeaker were enabled while the wireless communication device 104presented media content. The presentation information 948 also includesscreen contrast ratio information 954 indicative of the screen contrastratio set on the wireless communication device 104 while presentingmedia content.

The types of information stored in the example content sessioninformation data structure 900 may differ when metering different typesof media. For example, when metering a video program presentation, thetypes of information stored in the example content session informationdata structure 900 may be different from the types of information storedwhen metering video games, web pages, or audio presentations. In anexample implementation used to meter video games executed by thewireless communication device 104, the example content sessioninformation data structure 900 may be used to store a game title, askill level setting, a game level, a version, a vendor, and informationabout advertising presented during game play.

FIG. 10 depicts an example channel lineup and content programming datastructure 1000 that the media measurement entity 102 (FIGS. 1-3) may useto analyze and/or validate the panel metering information generated bythe wireless communication devices 104 (FIGS. 1-3). The data structure1000 includes channel number information 1002, channel name information1004, and scheduled media program entries 1006 indicating the times andchannels associated with delivery of media content. During analyses ofpanel metering information, the media measurement entity 102 may comparethe channel number information 1002 to the channel number information922 (FIG. 9) of the example content session information data structure900 (FIG. 9). The media measurement entity 102 may also compare thechannel name information 1004 to the channel name information 924 (FIG.9) of the example content session information data structure 900 (FIG.9). Each of the scheduled media program entries 1006 may include aprogram asset ID (e.g., the program asset ID information 912 of FIG. 9),a program name/title (e.g., the program name/title information 914 ofFIG. 9), an episode name (e.g., the episode name information 916 of FIG.9), and/or content specifications (e.g., the content specifications 928,930, 932, and 934 of FIG. 9).

FIG. 11 depicts example metering information 1100 stored using anextensible markup language (“XML”) format (e.g., an XML file). In theillustrated example, the example metering information 1100 includesexample panel metering information that may be generated by the wirelesscommunication devices 104. However, the control wireless communicationdevice 116 and/or the broadcast monitor 114 may generate and/or collectand organize reference metering information in a manner substantiallysimilar or identical to the arrangement shown in FIG. 11. In theillustrated example, the panel metering information shown in FIG. 11corresponds to information described above in connection with the datastructures of FIGS. 4, 6, 8, and 9. However, in other exampleimplementations, other types of information may also be included in theexample metering information 1100.

To store device identification information, the example meteringinformation 1100 includes a device identification section 1102 includinga wireless device identifier 404, a wireless network service provideridentifier 406, and wireless device make and model information 408 and410.

The example metering information 1100 includes a demographics section1104, which includes a postal zip code 618. The media measurement entity102 (FIG. 1) may use the postal zip code 618 to retrieve demographicinformation (e.g., the demographic information described above inconnection with FIG. 6) to generate demographic-based reports using thepanel metering information.

The example metering information 1100 includes a viewing session section1106 having the viewing session start time information 802, the viewingsession end time information 804, and the previous viewing session endtime information 806. The viewing session section 1106 also includes themedia presentation software name and version information 810.

Within the viewing session section 1106, the example meteringinformation 1100 includes a content session section 1108 having thecontent session start time information 902 and the content session endtime information 904. The content session section 1108 also includes theservice provider information 906, the delivery type information 908, thecontent type information 910, the program name/title information 914,the channel number information 922, the channel name information 924,and the content specifications information 928.

The content session section 1108 includes a usage data section 1110 tostore the usage data information 936. In the illustrated example, theusage data section 1110 includes two entries of the usage datainformation 936. A first usage data entry corresponds to a playoperating mode (e.g., the operation mode information 944) and a secondusage data entry corresponds to a pause operating mode (e.g., theoperation mode information 944).

In other example implementations, the panel metering information and/orthe reference metering information may include more or less informationthan depicted in FIG. 11. For example, panel metering information mayalso include device status information (e.g., the on/off statusinformation 502, the battery status information 504, the callinformation status information 506, the application usage information508 of FIG. 5) described above in connection with the example devicestatus information data structure 500 of FIG. 5 or usage information(e.g., carrying device information 702, the technical issues information704, the roaming information 706 of FIG. 7) described above inconnection with the example usage information data structure 700 of FIG.7.

The types of information stored in the example metering information 1100may differ when metering different types of media. For example, whenmetering video games executed by the wireless communication device 104,the example metering information 1100 may be used to store a game title,a skill level setting, a game level, a version, a vendor, andinformation about advertising presented during game play.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example apparatus 1200 that may be used toimplement the example wireless communication devices 104 of FIGS. 1-3,the example control wireless communication device 116 of FIGS. 1 and 2,and the example broadcast monitor 114 of FIGS. 1 and 3, and FIG. 13illustrates an example metering information processing system 1300 thatmay be used to implement the example metering information processingsystem 128 of FIG. 1 to process panel metering information at the mediameasurement entity 102 of FIGS. 1-3. The example apparatus 1200 and theexample metering information processing system 1300 may be implementedusing any desired combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software.For example, one or more integrated circuits, discrete semiconductorcomponents, and/or passive electronic components may be used.Additionally or alternatively, some or all of the blocks of the exampleapparatus 1200 and the example metering information processing system1300, or parts thereof, may be implemented using instructions, code,and/or other software and/or firmware, etc. stored on a machineaccessible medium that, when executed by, for example, a processorsystem (e.g., the example processor system 2810 of FIG. 28), perform theoperations represented in the flowcharts of FIGS. 14, 15, 16A, 16B,17-19, 20A, 20B, 21A, and 21B.

Turning now to FIG. 12, to communicate with the media content provider106, the wireless communications service provider 120, and/or the mediameasurement entity 102 (FIG. 1), the example apparatus 1200 includes acommunication interface 1202. The example apparatus 1200 may use thecommunication interface 1202 to receive media content from the mediacontent provider 106, process voice/data communications with via thewireless communications service provider 120, and/or transmit panelmetering information to the media content provider 106, the wirelesscommunications service provider 120, and/or the media measurement entity102. The communication interface 1202 may be implemented using one ormore wireless communication protocols including, for example, FLO®,DVB-H, TDMA, GSM®, CDMA, or any other multicast or broadcast mediadelivery protocols or voice/data communication protocols.

To store media content and panel metering information (e.g., the panelmetering information file 204 of FIG. 2), the example apparatus 1200includes a memory 1204. To analyze data packets used to deliver mediacontent, the example apparatus 1200 includes a data packet analyzer1206. The data packet analyzer 1206 is configured to extract panelmetering information (e.g., program identification, channelidentification, content provider identification, etc.) or otherinformation used to generate panel metering information from datapackets used by the media content provider 106 and/or the wirelesscommunications service provider 120 to communicate media content. Forexample, the data packet analyzer 1206 may extract some or all of theinformation described above in connection with the example datastructures 900 of FIGS. 9 and 11 from data packets.

To decode the media content received from the media content provider106, the example apparatus 1200 includes one or more media decoder(s)1208. The media decoders 1208 may include one or more video decoders,one or more audio decoders, one or more graphics decoders, one or morevideo game engines, one or more Internet data decoders (e.g., htmldecoders, Java® decoders, etc.), etc.

To generate and/or collect panel metering information, the exampleapparatus 1200 includes a metering information generator/collector 1210.In some example implementations, information used to generate panelmetering information may be embedded in fields of transmission datapackets. The metering information generator/collector 1210 may beconfigured to obtain information from forward link channels or backchannels between the wireless communication devices 104 and atransmitting entity. Alternatively or additionally, information used togenerate panel metering information may be embedded in the mediacontent. For example, ancillary codes (e.g., audio codes, video codes,etc.) may be embedded in the media content, and the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may be configured to collect those codes. Insome example implementations, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may be configured to generate signatures (e.g.,audio signatures, video signatures, etc.) based on the media contentdecoded by the media decoders 1208.

In the illustrated example, the metering information generator/collector1210 may be configured to intercept media content decoded by the mediadecoders 1208 using software and/or hardware to collect codes and/orgenerate signatures. For example, data intercepting software may beconfigured to periodically trap data output by the media decoders 1208and/or copy data output by the media decoders 1208 from an output bufferto another memory space used by the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 to generate and/or collect the panel meteringinformation. Data intercepting hardware may be implemented by coupling adata sniffer to output lines of the media decoders 1208 to detect mediacontent data decoded by the media decoders 1208 and copy the detecteddecoded media to a memory associated with the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210. The data intercepting processes may be passiveso that the metering of the presented media contents does not affect ordoes not substantially affect the performance and/or quality ofpresenting media contents by the wireless communication device 104.

In any case, the metering information generator/collector 1210 mayobtain (i.e., collect) information (e.g., metering information) from thedata packet analyzer 1206 and/or from media content decoded by the mediadecoders 1208 and/or generate signatures based on decoded media contentand use the collected and/or generated information to generate panelmetering information. The metering information generator/collector 1210may then store the panel metering information in the memory 1204 (e.g.,in the panel metering information file 204 of FIG. 2).

To determine a location of the example apparatus 1200, the exampleapparatus 1200 is provided with a location interface 1212. The locationinterface 1212 may be configured to detect and/or determine thelocations to which the example apparatus 1200 is moved. The locationinterface 1212 may be implemented using any locationdetection/determination technology including, for example, a GPSreceiver, a dead reckoning system, an electronic compass, technology todetermine location based on triangulation techniques, sensors to detectlocation codes or identification codes indicative of a location, etc.

In the illustrated example, the example apparatus 1200 is provided witha status monitor 1214 configured to monitor the operations and/or statusof the wireless communication device 104 to determine when the wirelesscommunication device 104, for example, is powered on/off, is connectedto a battery charger, is executing media presentation software, etc. Theexample apparatus 1200 is also provided with an application monitor 1216to detect when media presentation software of the wireless communicationdevice 104 has been instantiated and when it is presenting mediacontent. The application monitor 1216 can also be configured to detectdifferent operations (e.g., play, pause, skip, rewind, fast forward,etc.) associated with the media presentation software. The meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 can store information indicative ofthe events detected by the status monitor 1214 and/or the applicationmonitor 1216 in the memory 1204 for subsequent analysis by the mediameasurement entity 102.

To determine time information, the example apparatus 1200 is providedwith a clock 1218. In the illustrated example, the clock 1218 may beseparate from a clock of a wireless communication device 104 and may besynchronized with the time of a clock at the media measurement entity102. The clock 1218 enables the example apparatus 1200 to generateaccurate time information (e.g., the viewing session start and end times802 and 804 of FIG. 8, the content session start and end times 902 and904 of FIG. 9, etc.) even if the network of a wireless service provider(e.g., the wireless service provider 120 of FIG. 1) has not correctlyset time information in a clock of the wireless communication device 104or if the clock of the wireless communication device 104 does nototherwise have the correct or accurate time information. In theillustrated example, the clock 1218 is configured to be periodically oraperiodically synchronized with a clock of the media measurement entity102, which may, in turn, be synchronized to, for example, agovernment-provided reference time.

The communications interface 1202, the memory 1204, the data packetanalyzer 1206, the media decoders 1208, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210, the location detection interface 1212, thestatus monitor 1214, the application monitor 1216, and the clock 1218may also be used to implement the control wireless communication device116 and/or the broadcast monitor 114 (FIG. 1). To implement the wirelesscommunication device 116, the metering information generator/collector1210 is configured to generate reference metering information and storethe reference metering information in the memory 1204 (e.g., thereference metering information file 206 of FIG. 2).

Although the example apparatus 1200 may be used to implement the examplewireless communication devices 104, the control wireless communicationdevice 116, and/or the broadcast monitor 114, in some exampleimplementations the example apparatus 1200 may be adapted to implementthe meter 202 of FIGS. 2 and 3 and/or the meter 306 of FIG. 3, and theexample apparatus 1200 may be installed into (e.g., internal) or onto(e.g., external) the wireless communication device 104. For example, insome example implementations (e.g., the example metering module 2302 ofFIG. 23), the example apparatus 1200 may be configured to include thememory 1204, the data packet analyzer 1206, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210, the location interface 1212, the statusmonitor 1214, the application monitor 1216, and the clock 1218. In suchexample implementations, the communication interface 1202 and the mediadecoder(s) 1208 may be implemented in the wireless communication device104, while the example apparatus 1200 is provided with data interceptionor detection interfaces to detect data packets received and/ortransmitted via the communication interface 1202 and/or decoded mediacontent output by the media decoder(s) 1208. That is, the exampleapparatus 1200 may be provided with a network data detection interface(not shown) configured to be coupled to data lines of the communicationinterface 1202 to detect data packets and a media content detectioninterface (not shown) configured to be coupled to output lines of themedia decoder(s) 1208 to detect media content decoded by the mediadecoder(s) 1208. Additionally or alternatively, the example apparatus1200 may be provided with a common data interface (e.g., a serialinterface, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, or any otherinterface) (e.g., the communication interface 2316 of FIG. 23) to becoupled to a data interface (e.g., via the accessory port 2322 of FIG.23) of the wireless communication device 104 and through which theexample apparatus 1200 can receive network data packets and/or decodedmedia content data from the wireless communication device 104. Forexample, the wireless communication device 104 can be provided with andexecute one or more software agents to monitor and detect network datapackets communicated via the communication interface 1202 and/or mediacontent decoded by the media decoder(s) 1208 and to communicate thedetected data packets and/or decoded media contents to the exampleapparatus 1200 via the common data interface. In this manner, theexample apparatus 1200 can generate panel metering information based onthe received data packets and/or decoded media content.

Turning now to FIG. 13, to access the panel metering information datastructure 112, the example system 1300 includes a panel meteringinformation interface 1302 communicatively coupled to the panel meteringinformation data structure 112. The panel metering information interface1302 may be configured to retrieve the panel metering information fromthe panel metering information data structure 112 and to storeinformation (e.g., the panel metering information, validationinformation, etc.) in the panel metering information data structure 112.To access the reference metering information data structure 118, theexample system 1300 includes a reference metering information interface1304 communicatively coupled to the reference metering information datastructure 118.

To validate the panel metering information, the example system 1300 isprovided with the validator 208 communicatively coupled to the panelmetering information interface 1302 and the reference meteringinformation interface 1304. The validator 208 is configured to validatethe panel metering information as described above in connection withFIGS. 2 and 3.

To obtain demographic information associated with the panel members 108(FIG. 1), the example system 1300 is provided with a demographicinformation interface 1306 communicatively coupled to the demographicinformation data structure 126 and the panel metering informationinterface 1302. In an example implementation, the demographicinformation interface 1306 may communicate with the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 to retrieve the postal zip code information618 (FIGS. 6 and 11) and/or the wireless device identifier 404 (FIGS. 4and 11) from panel metering information (e.g., the example meteringinformation 1100 of FIG. 11) stored in the panel metering informationdata structure 112 and use the postal zip code information 618 and/orthe wireless device identifier 404 to retrieve demographic informationfrom the demographic information data structure 126. In some exampleimplementations, the panel metering information interface 1302 isconfigured to retrieve demographic information from the accountinformation data structure 122 based on, for example, the postal zipcode information 618 and/or the wireless device identifier 404 and storethe demographic information in the demographic information datastructure 126.

To analyze and process the panel metering information, the examplesystem 1300 is provided with an analyzer 1308 communicatively coupled tothe panel metering information interface 1302, the reference meteringinformation interface 1304, and the demographic information interface1306. In some example implementations, the analyzer 1308 may retrievepanel metering information via the panel metering information interface1302, channel lineup and content programming information (e.g., theinformation stored in the channel lineup and content programming datastructure 1000 of FIG. 10) from the reference metering information datastructure 118 via the reference metering information interface 1304, anddemographic information via the demographic information interface 1306.The analyzer 1308 may then analyze and process the panel meteringinformation based on the channel lineup and content programminginformation and the demographic information to measure, for example,media consumption or media exposure. To generate reports based on theanalyses performed by the analyzer 1308 and/or the validator 208, theexample system 1300 includes a report generator 1310. The reports mayinclude information indicative of users' media consumption of or mediaexposure to programming content transmitted to and presented via thewireless communication devices 104. Some reports may correlate mediaconsumption or exposure with the different types of informationdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 4-11. For example, a mediaconsumption versus data transmission quality report may correlate mediaconsumption of media content with the various levels of datatransmission quality associated with transmitting the media content todifferent wireless communication devices 104.

To enable the panel members 108 to provide their demographic informationto the demographic information data structure 126, the example system1300 is provided with a user interface 1312. The user interface 1312 maybe implemented using a web page server, a wireless communication deviceinterface (e.g., a wireless application protocol (“WAP”) interface), aninteractive voice response (“IVR”) interface, an intranet server (foraccess by customer service agents contacted by users to provide thedemographic information), etc.

Flowcharts representative of example processes that may be used toimplement the example wireless communication devices 104 (FIGS. 1-3) and116 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the broadcast monitor 114 (FIGS. 1 and 3), theexample apparatus 1200 of FIG. 12, the example panel meteringinformation processing system 1300 of FIG. 13, and/or other apparatus orsystems (e.g., the personal computer 124 of FIG. 1) described herein areshown in FIGS. 14, 15, 16A, 16B, 17-19, 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 26, and 27.In the illustrated examples, the example processes may be implemented ascomprising one or more programs for execution by one or more processorssuch as the processor 2812 shown in the example processor system 2810 ofFIG. 28. The programs may be embodied in software stored on tangiblemediums such as CD-ROM's, floppy disks, hard drives, digital versatiledisks (DVD's), or a memory associated with the processor 2812 and/orembodied in firmware and/or dedicated hardware in a well-known manner.For example, any or all of the example wireless communication devices104 and 116, the example broadcast monitor 114, the example apparatus1200, the example panel metering information processing system 1300,and/or other example apparatus or systems described herein could beimplemented using software, hardware, and/or firmware. Further, althoughthe example programs are described with reference to the flowchartsillustrated in FIGS. 14, 15, 16A, 16B, 17-19, 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 26,and 27, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciatethat many other methods of implementation may alternatively be used. Forexample, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/orsome of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to obtain panel members and to generate and/or collect panelmetering information. Initially, the media measurement entity 102advertises a metering program to a potential panel member (block 1402).For example, the media measurement entity 102 may advertiseopportunities for participation in the metering program via the mediacontent provider 106 and/or the wireless communications service provider120. Alternatively or additionally, the media measurement entity 102 mayadvertise the metering program directly to users of the wirelesscommunication devices 104, which may include subscribers of the mediacontent provider 106 and/or subscribers of the wireless communicationsservice provider 120. For example, the media measurement entity 102 mayadvertise the metering program by sending messages (e.g., via e-mail,via a web page, via wireless application protocol (“WAP”), etc.) to thewireless communication devices 104 and/or the personal computer 124.Each message may include a selectable option that indicates a person'sconsent to participate in the metering program.

The wireless communication device 104 then determines whether thetargeted panel member has requested or consented to participate in themetering program (block 1404). For example, the targeted panel membercan select an option on a user interface screen indicating consent toparticipate in the metering program. If the wireless communicationdevice 104 determines that the targeted panel member has not requestedor consented to participate in the metering program (block 1404), thencontrol returns to block 1402 and the media measurement entity 102advertises participation in the metering program to the same or anotherpotential panel member. However, if the wireless communication device104 determines that the targeted panel member has requested or consentedto participate in the metering program (block 1404), then the targetedpanel member becomes one of the panel members 108 and the wirelesscommunication device 104 interviews the panel member 108 to obtaindemographic information (block 1406). An example method that may be usedto implement the operation of block 1406 is described below inconnection with the flowchart of FIG. 15.

After interviewing the panel member 108 regarding demographicinformation (block 1406), metering of the wireless communication device104 is then enabled (block 1408). For example, the media measuremententity 102, the media content provider 106, and/or the wirelesscommunications service provider 120 may transmit metering software(e.g., a media content meter 202 of FIG. 2) to the wirelesscommunication device 104 to enable metering. Alternatively, the meteringsoftware and/or hardware may be pre-installed on the wirelesscommunication device 104 so that the media measurement entity 102, themedia content provider 106, and/or the wireless communications serviceprovider 120 need only provide the wireless communication device 104with a message instructing the wireless communication device 104 toenable the preinstalled metering software and/or hardware. The meteringsoftware and/or hardware may be configured to monitor all of the mediacontent presented by the wireless communication device 104 or only asubset of media content. For instance, the metering software and/orhardware may be configured to monitor media content during particulartimes, media content delivered via particular channels, and/or onlyparticular media content programming.

The communication interface 1202 and the media decoders 1208 (FIG. 12)of the wireless communication device 104 then obtain and present mediacontent (block 1410). For example, the communication interface 1202 mayreceive media content delivered (e.g., broadcast, multicast, unicast,etc.) by the media content provider 106 or the wireless communicationsservice provider 120 in response to the panel member 108 tuning in to aparticular channel and/or requesting particular content and one or moreof the media decoders 1208 may load and begin decoding (e.g.,decompressing, reconstructing, rendering, etc.) and presenting the mediacontent.

The metering information generator/collector 1210 then generates and/orcollects panel metering information (block 1412). For example, the datapacket analyzer 1206 (FIG. 12) may extract panel metering information orother information used by the metering information generator/collector1210 to generate panel metering information from header fields or anyother fields in the transmitted network packets used to deliver mediacontent. Additionally or alternatively, some of the panel meteringinformation may be embedded in the media content information containedin the data packets used to transmit the media content, and the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 may extract the panel meteringinformation from the media content while the decoders 1208 decode themedia content. In the illustrated example, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may store the panel metering information in thepanel metering information file 204 (FIG. 2), which is, in turn, storedin the memory 1204 (FIG. 12). At block 1412, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 can also generate and/or collect other types ofmetering information such as, for example, information described abovein connection with FIGS. 4, 5, 7-9, and 11. The operations of block 1412may be implemented using the example methods described below inconnection with the flowcharts of FIGS. 16A, 16B, and 17.

The metering information generator/collector 1210 then tags one or moreof the panel metering information entries generated and/or collected atblock 1412 with respective timestamps indicative of when they weregenerated and/or collected (block 1414). In some exampleimplementations, a group of panel metering information entries may betagged with a single timestamp or two timestamps (e.g., a start timetimestamp and an end time timestamp). In addition, the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 tags one or more of the panelmetering information entries or a group of the panel meteringinformation entries with one or more device identifiers (block 1416)(e.g., the media terminal identifier 402, the wireless device identifier404, the wireless network service provider 406, the wireless device make408, and/or the wireless device model 410 of FIG. 4) corresponding tothe wireless communication device 104 that generated the panel meteringinformation.

The wireless communication device 104 then determines whether it shouldcommunicate the panel metering information to a central collectionfacility (block 1418) (e.g., one or more of the media measurement entity102, the media content provider 106, and the wireless communicationsservice provider 120). For example, the wireless communication device104 may be configured to communicate the panel metering information tothe media content provider 106 when the amount of panel meteringinformation stored in the memory 1204 reaches a predetermined thresholdlimit. Alternatively or additionally, the wireless communication device104 may be configured to communicate the panel metering information tothe media content provider 106 at a predetermined time every day.

If the wireless communication device 104 determines that it shouldcommunicate the panel metering information (block 1418), then thecommunication interface 1202 communicates the panel metering informationfrom the memory 1204 to the central collection facility (block 1420).After the communication interface 1202 communicates the panel meteringinformation (block 1420) or if the wireless communication device 104determines that it should not communicate the panel metering information(block 1418), the wireless communication device 104 determines whetherit should continue to meter other media content (block 1422). If thewireless communication device 104 determines that it should meter othermedia content (block 1422), then control is passed back to block 1410.Otherwise, the process is ended.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to obtain demographic information associated with panelmembers. The operations described in connection with FIG. 15 may be usedto implement the operation of block 1406 of FIG. 14 to interview thepanel member 108 and obtain demographic information from the panelmember 108. Initially, the wireless communication device 104 displays auser interface screen having selectable options for different levels ofdemographics (block 1502) to be used in the metering program. Forexample, the options may include maintaining complete anonymity (e.g.,provide no demographic information), maintain partial anonymity (e.g.,provide only wireless device identifier and/or postal zip code), andproviding a substantial amount of demographic and/or personalinformation.

The wireless communication device 104 then determines whether the panelmember 108 has requested to maintain total anonymity (block 1504). Ifthe panel member 108 has requested to maintain total anonymity (block1504), no demographic information is collected (block 1506). In anexample implementation in which no demographic information is to beused, the example metering information 1100 (FIG. 11) may be stored andtransmitted to the media measurement entity 102 without the postal zipcode information 618 (FIGS. 6 and 11) or any other information toidentify the panel member 108 associated with the example meteringinformation 1100.

If the panel member 108 has not requested to maintain total anonymity(block 1504), then the wireless communication device 104 determineswhether the panel member has requested to maintain partial anonymity(block 1508). If the panel member 108 has requested to maintain partialanonymity (block 1508), then the meter 202 (FIG. 2) obtains the wirelessdevice identifier (e.g., the wireless device identifier 404 of FIGS. 4and 11) from the wireless communication device 104 and/or the postal zipcode (e.g., the postal zip code 618 of FIGS. 6 and 11) from the panelmember 108 (block 1510). In this manner, the media measurement entity102 can obtain partial or general demographic information from theaccount information data structure 122 of the wireless communicationsservice provider 120 (FIG. 1) based on the wireless device identifier404 and/or the postal zip code 618. In alternative exampleimplementations, the meter 202 may obtain a separate phone number otherthan that of the wireless communication device 104 such as, for example,a phone number of a wired or landline telephone associated with the userof the wireless communication device 104.

If the panel member 108 has not requested to maintain partial anonymity(block 1508), the wireless communication device 104 determines whetherthe panel member 108 has elected to provide demographic informationand/or personal information via the wireless communication device 104(block 1512). For example, the wireless communication device 104 maypresent a user interface screen to the panel member 108 havingselectable options via which the panel member 108 can select to providedemographic information via the wireless communication device 104 or viaanother method (e.g., calling a dial-in number, accessing a website onthe personal computer 124 of FIG. 1 or any other web-enabled device).Alternatively, the panel member 108 may authorize a call back from themedia measurement entity 102 to provide demographic and/or personalinformation via a phone call. In yet other alternative exampleimplementations, the meter 202 (FIG. 2) may be pre-configured toinstruct the panel member 108 to provide demographic information via aparticular method (e.g., via the wireless communication device 104, viaa website, via a dial-in number, etc.).

If the wireless communication device 104 determines that the panelmember 108 should provide demographic and/or personal information viathe wireless communication device 104 (block 1512), then the wirelesscommunication device 104 displays a user input screen via which thepanel member 108 can provide demographic and/or personal information(block 1514). However, if the wireless communication device 104determines that the panel member 108 has not elected to providedemographic and/or personal information via the wireless communicationdevice 104 (block 1512), the wireless communication device 104 displaysa message instructing the panel member 108 to access a website or call adial-in number to provide demographic and/or personal information (block1516).

After the wireless communication device 104 presents the message atblock 1516 or after the wireless communication device 104 displays theuser input screen at block 1514 and obtains demographic and/or personalinformation or after the meter 202 (FIG. 2) obtains the wireless deviceidentifier 404 and/or the postal zip code 618 of the panel member 108 atblock 1510 or if the wireless communication device 104 determines thatno demographic information will be obtained from the panel member 108,the process ends and control returns to a calling function or processsuch as, for example, the example process of FIG. 14.

FIGS. 16A and 16B depict a flowchart representative of an exampleprocess that may be performed to generate and/or collect panel meteringinformation. The flowchart of FIGS. 16A and 16B can be used to implementthe operations of block 1412 of FIG. 14 to generate and/or collect panelmetering information. In addition to generating and/or collecting thepanel metering information, the example apparatus 1200 may store thepanel metering information in the memory 1204 in, for example, one ormore of the data structures 500 (FIG. 5), 700 (FIG. 7), 800 (FIG. 8),900 (FIG. 9), and 1100 (FIG. 11). In some example implementations, theexample apparatus 1200 may be configured to collect some or all of thetypes of panel metering information discussed below from one or more ofthe data structures 500 (FIG. 5), 700 (FIG. 7), 800 (FIG. 8), 900 (FIG.9), and 1100 (FIG. 11) and store the information in the panel meteringfile 204 (FIGS. 2 and 3) (e.g., an XML file) to be communicated to acentral collection facility.

To determine whether the to collect particular types of panel meteringinformation described below, the example apparatus 1200 may beconfigured to check a configuration bit corresponding to the particularpanel metering information to determine whether the example apparatus1200 should collect that type of panel metering information. Theconfiguration bit may be set or cleared during a configuration time by aperson (e.g., a set-up technician) or by configuration software. Thestatus of each configuration bit may be different for different devices(e.g., for different ones of the wireless communication devices 104)based on several factors (e.g., target market, demographic information,time of day, day of week, etc.). In some example implementations, todetermine whether the example apparatus 1200 should collect a particulartype of panel metering information, the example apparatus 1200 mayadditionally or alternatively be configured to analyze information(e.g., data packets, media content, data transmission headerinformation, etc.) associated with that type of panel meteringinformation to determine whether the panel metering information ofinterest is available for collection. For example, to determine whetherthe example apparatus 1200 should collect codes (e.g., ancillary audiocodes, ancillary video codes, ancillary graphics codes, etc.) from mediacontent, the example apparatus 1200 may be configured to analyze themedia content to determine whether the codes are embedded in the mediacontent or a header of the media content and, if so, the exampleapparatus 1200 can determine that it should collect the codes.Otherwise, the example apparatus 1200 can determine that it should notcollect the codes because they are not available.

Initially, the metering information generator/collector 1210 stores thestart time information 802 (FIGS. 8 and 11) (block 1602) in the panelmetering file 204 (FIG. 2). In the illustrated example, the start timeinformation 802 is indicative of when the wireless communication device104 started to present the media content at block 1410 of FIG. 14. Themetering information generator/collector 1210 then determines whether itshould collect data packet information (block 1604) from the datapackets used to communicate the media content to the wirelesscommunication device 104. For example, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may check a configuration bit of, for example,the example apparatus 1200 to determine whether collection of datapacket information has been enabled. Additionally or alternatively, themetering information generator/collector 1210 can be configured toanalyze each received data packet to determine if it has meaningfulinformation (e.g., channel number information, channel name information,delivery type information, service provider information, content typeinformation, etc.) relevant to generating the panel meteringinformation, and if a data packet has meaningful information, themetering information generator/collector 1210 can determine that itshould collect the data packet information. If the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines that it should collect data packetinformation (block 1604), the metering information generator/collector1210 collects the data packet information (block 1606) from one or moreof the data packets used to receive the media content.

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the data packet information (block 1606) or if the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should notcollect the data packet information (block 1604), the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines whether it shouldcollect codes (block 1608) such as, for example, ancillary audio codes,ancillary video codes, ancillary graphics codes, etc. If the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should collectcodes, the metering information generator/collector 1210 collects thecodes (block 1610) from the media content.

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the codes (block 1610) or if the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines that it should not collect codes(block 1608), the metering information generator/collector 1210determines whether it should generate signatures (block 1612) such as,for example, audio signatures, video signatures, graphics signatures,etc. In some example implementations, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 can determine that it should generatesignatures if it determines that the received data packets do notcontain meaningful information relevant to generating meteringinformation and/or if the media contents do not contain ancillary codes.If the metering information generator/collector 1210 determines that itshould generate signatures (block 1612), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 generates the signatures (block 1614) based onthe media content.

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210generates the signatures (block 1614) or if the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines that it should not generatesignatures (block 1612), the metering information generator/collector1210 determines whether it should collect cell tower or transmittingtower information (block 1616) such as, for example, the transmittingtower identification information 926 of FIG. 9. If the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should collectcell tower information (block 1616), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 collects the cell tower information (block1618).

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the cell tower information (block 1618) or if the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should notcollect the cell tower information (block 1616), the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines whether it shouldcollect location information (block 1620). The location information maybe used to determine the location (e.g., a geographic location) or anapproximate location of the example apparatus 1200 when, for example,the example apparatus 1200 received and/or presented the media content.In some example implementations, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may query the location interface 1212 todetermine whether the location interface 1212 has received and/orgenerated any location information and, if so, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 can determine that it should collect thelocation information. If the metering information generator/collector1210 determines that it should collect location information (block1620), the metering information generator/collector 1210 collects thelocation information from the location interface 1212 (block 1622).

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the location information (block 1622) or if the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should notcollect the location information (block 1620), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines whether it should collecttransmission quality information (block 1624) (FIG. 16B) associated withthe communication links and/or data packets used to receive the mediacontent. Transmission quality information may include, for example,delay time (e.g., the IP time offset 925 of FIG. 9), signal strength(e.g., the signal strength information 510 of FIG. 5), or any othertransmission quality of service parameter. In some exampleimplementations, the metering information generator/collector 1210 canbe configured to analyze the received information (e.g., received datapackets) to determine whether it contains transmission qualityinformation and, if so, the metering information generator/collector1210 can determine that it should collect transmission qualityinformation. If the metering information generator/collector 1210determines that it should collect transmission quality information(block 1624), the metering information generator/collector 1210 collectsthe transmission quality information (block 1626).

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the transmission quality information (block 1626) or if themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines that it shouldnot collect the transmission quality information (block 1624), themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines whether itshould collect media quality information (block 1628). The media qualityinformation can include, for example, one or more of the frames persecond information 930 (FIGS. 9 and 11), the video resolution 932 (FIGS.9 and 11), the audio quality 934 (FIG. 9) (e.g., audio sampling rate,stereo mode, mono mode, etc.), and/or any other information indicativeof the quality of the media content. If the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines that it should collect media qualityinformation (block 1628), the metering information generator/collector1210 collects the media quality information (block 1630).

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the media quality information (block 1630) or if the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should notcollect the media quality information (block 1628), the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines whether it shouldcollect media presentation information (block 1632). Media presentationinformation can include the media presentation information 948 of FIG. 9(e.g., the volume level 950, the headset/speaker status 952, the screencontrast settings 954, etc.) or any other type of media presentationinformation. If the metering information generator/collector 1210determines that it should collect the media presentation information(block 1632), the metering information generator/collector 1210 collectsthe media presentation information (block 1634).

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the media presentation information (block 1634) or if themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines that it shouldnot collect the media presentation information (block 1632), themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines whether itshould collect device status information (block 1636). The device statusinformation can include, for example, one or more of the device statusinformation described above in connection with FIG. 5 and/or the usageinformation described above in connection with FIG. 7. If the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should collectdevice status information (block 1636), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 collects the device status information (block1638).

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the device status information (block 1638) or if the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should notcollect the device status information (block 1636), the exampleapparatus 1200 determines whether it should continue metering (block1640). For example, the example apparatus 1200 may determine whether thepresentation of media content has ended by, for example, querying (e.g.,polling) the media decoder(s) 1208 to determine whether media content isstill being decoded. If the example apparatus 1200 determines that itshould continue metering (block 1640), control returns to block 1602(FIG. 16A). Otherwise, the metering information generator/collector 1210stores the end time information 804 (FIGS. 8 and 11) (block 1642). Inaddition, the metering information generator/collector 1210 can store aprevious viewing session end time 806 (FIGS. 8 and 11) associated withmetering a previous media content presentation. After the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 stores the time information, theexample process of FIGS. 16A and 16B ends and control returns to theexample process of FIG. 14.

Although the operations of the flowchart of FIGS. 16A and 16B aredescribed as being performed in seriatum, two or more of the operationsmay be configured to be performed in parallel. For example, when theapparatus 1200 is receiving a stream of media content via data packetsand presenting the media content, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may collect data packet information from thereceived data packets while it collects ancillary codes from thepresented media contents and/or generates signatures based on thepresented media content.

FIG. 17 is another flowchart representative of an example process thatmay be performed to generate and/or collect panel metering information.The flowchart of FIG. 17 may be used to implement the operations ofblock 1412 of FIG. 14. The example apparatus 1200 of FIG. 12 may beconfigured to collect some or all of the types of panel meteringinformation discussed below in connection with or separate fromreceiving and/or presenting media content. In addition to generatingand/or collecting the panel metering information, the example apparatus1200 may store the panel metering information in the memory 1204 in, forexample, one or more of the data structures 500 (FIG. 5), 700 (FIG. 7),and 1100 (FIG. 11). In some example implementations, the exampleapparatus 1200 may be configured to collect some or all of the types ofpanel metering information discussed below from one or more of the datastructures 500 (FIG. 5), 700 (FIG. 7), and 1100 (FIG. 11) and store thisinformation in the panel metering file 204 (FIGS. 2 and 3) (e.g., an XMLfile) to be communicated to a central collection facility. To determinewhether to collect particular types of the panel metering informationdiscussed below, the example apparatus 1200 may be configured to checkconfiguration bits to determine the types of panel metering informationit should collect. Additionally or alternatively, the example apparatus1200 may be configured to check on the availability of such types ofpanel metering information to determine the panel metering informationit should collect.

Initially, the metering information generator/collector 1210 determineswhether it should collect application usage information (block 1702).Application usage information (e.g., the application usage information508 of FIG. 5) can include time and duration information indicative ofwhen software applications on the wireless communication devices 104were used and software application identification information indicativeof the software applications that were used. If the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines that it should collect applicationusage information (block 1702), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 collects the application usage information(block 1704). For example, the metering information generator/collector1210 can query the status monitor 1214 and/or the application monitor1216 to determine when applications are instantiated and/or executed bythe wireless communication device 104 and/or to determine the modes ofoperations (e.g., play, pause, stop, skip, rewind, fast forward, volumechange, configuration settings, etc.) of the applications.

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the application usage information (block 1704) or if themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines that it shouldnot collect the application usage information (block 1702), the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines whether it shouldcollect phone call usage information (block 1706). Phone call usageinformation (e.g., the call information 506 of FIG. 5) may include timeand duration information indicative of when a wireless communicationdevice 104 was used for making telephone calls. If the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should collectphone call usage information (block 1706), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 collects the phone call usage information(block 1708). For example, the metering information generator/collector1210 can query the status monitor 1214 to determine when telephone callsare made using the wireless communication device 104.

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the phone call usage information (block 1708) or if themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines that it shouldnot collect the phone call usage information (block 1706), the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines whether it shouldcollect roaming information (block 1710). The roaming information (e.g.,the roaming information 706 of FIG. 7) may include informationindicative of date, time, and duration of when a wireless communicationdevice 104 was carried outside of its local calling area. If themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines that it shouldcollect roaming information (block 1710), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 collects the roaming information (block 1712).For example, the metering information generator/collector 1210 can querythe status monitor 1214 to determine when the wireless communicationdevice 104 is roaming.

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the roaming information (block 1712) or if the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should notcollect the roaming information (block 1710), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines whether it should collect technicalissues information (block 1714). The technical issues information (e.g.,the technical issues information 704 of FIG. 7) may include the time,duration, and description of technical issues associated with thewireless communication devices 104. If the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines that it should collect technicalissues information (block 1714), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 collects the technical issues information(block 1716). For example, the metering information generator/collector1210 can query the status monitor 1214 to determine when the wirelesscommunication device 104 detects technical issues and/or a user 108 ofthe wireless communication device 104 reports technical issues.

After or while the metering information generator/collector 1210collects the technical issues information (block 1716) or if themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines that it shouldnot collect technical issues information (block 1714), the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines whether it shouldcollect carrying device information (block 1718). The carrying deviceinformation (e.g., the carrying device information 702 of FIG. 7) mayinclude information indicative of when a panel member 108 was carrying arespective wireless communication device 104. If the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 determines that it should collectthe carrying device information (block 1718), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 collects the carrying device information (block1720). For example, the metering information generator/collector 1210can query the status monitor 1214 to obtain carrying status informationreported by a user 108 of the wireless communication device 104 and/ordetected automatically by the wireless communication device 104 using,for example, detectors (e.g., motion sensors, temperature sensors,electronic compasses, etc.).

After the metering information generator/collector 1210 collects thecarrying device information, the example process of FIG. 17 ends andcontrol returns to the example process of FIG. 14. Although theoperations of FIG. 17 are described as occurring in seriatum, any two ormore of the operations may additionally or alternatively be performed inparallel.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to collect reference metering information. Initially, themedia measurement entity 102 determines whether it should collectreference metering information for all media content delivered (e.g.,broadcast, multicast, unicast, transmitted on-demand or per request,etc.) by the media content provider 106 (block 1802). If the mediameasurement entity 102 determines that it should collect referencemetering information for all delivered media content, then the mediameasurement entity 102 uses the broadcast monitor 114 (FIGS. 1 and 3)and/or one or more control wireless communication devices 116 (FIGS. 1and 2) to collect all reference metering information for all mediacontent delivered by the media content provider 106 (block 1804).

If the media measurement entity 102 determines that it should notcollect reference metering information for all media content deliveredby the media content provider 106 (block 1802), then the mediameasurement entity 102 selects particular media content and/or mediacontent delivery times for which to collect reference meteringinformation (block 1806) and uses the control wireless communicationdevice 116 and/or the broadcast monitor 114 to collect referencemetering information for the selected media content and/or media contentdelivery times (block 1808). After the media measurement entity 102collects reference metering information at block 1804 or block 1808, theprocess of FIG. 18 is ended.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to collect panel metering information from the wirelesscommunication devices 104 (FIG. 1). Initially, the media measuremententity 102 determines whether it should collect panel meteringinformation from all of the wireless communication devices 104 (block1902). If the media measurement entity 102 determines that it shouldcollect panel metering information from all of the wirelesscommunication devices 104 (block 1902), then the media measuremententity 102 collects panel metering information from all of the wirelesscommunication devices 104 (block 1904). For example, the mediameasurement entity 102 may communicate a control message to all of thewireless communication devices 104 to configure all of the wirelesscommunication devices 104 to transmit their panel metering informationto the media content provider 106 (FIG. 1). In some exampleimplementations, the media measurement entity 102 may collect panelmetering information from all wireless communication devices 104regardless of whether respective owners of the wireless communicationdevices 104 have expressly agreed to participate in the meteringprogram.

However, if the media measurement entity 102 determines that it shouldnot collect panel metering information from all of the wirelesscommunication devices 104 (block 1904), then the media measuremententity 102 collects panel metering information from only a subset of allthe wireless communication devices 104 (block 1906). For example, themedia measurement entity 102 may communicate a control message to only aselect or random subset of the wireless communication devices 104 toconfigure the subset of the wireless communication devices 104 totransmit their panel metering information to the media content provider106 (FIG. 1). The media measurement entity 102 may periodically oraperiodically (e.g., once per day, once per week, etc.) select differentspecific or random subsets of the wireless communication devices 104.

After the media measurement entity 102 collects the panel meteringinformation at block 1904 or block 1906, the media measurement entity102 stores the panel metering information in the panel meteringinformation data structure 112 (block 1908) and the process is ended.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are flowcharts representative of example processesthat may be performed to validate and analyze panel meteringinformation. Initially, the validator 208 obtains the panel meteringinformation (block 2012) from the panel metering information datastructure 112 (FIGS. 1 and 13) via the panel metering informationinterface 1302 (FIG. 13). The panel metering information may includesome or all of the types of panel metering information collected by awireless communication device 104 as described above in connection withthe flowcharts of FIGS. 16A, 16B, and 17. The operations of block 2012may be implemented using the process described below in connection withFIGS. 21A and 21B. The validator 208 then obtains reference meteringinformation (block 2014) from the reference metering information datastructure 118 (FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 13). The validator 208 then validatesthe panel metering information (block 2016). For example, the validator208 can validate the panel metering information that includes types ofinformation associated with the media content, the media contentprovider 106, the transmission of the media content, or any other panelmetering information for which the control wireless communication device116 or the broadcast monitor 114 would be able to generate correspondingreference metering information or for which reference meteringinformation is otherwise available for validation. The validator 208 mayvalidate the panel metering information based on the reference meteringinformation by comparing the panel metering information to the referencemetering information to ensure that the panel metering information isaccurate or trustworthy. Alternatively or additionally, the validator208 may obtain channel lineup and content programming information (e.g.,the channel lineup and content programming data structure 1000 of FIG.10) from, for example, the reference metering information data structure118 and validate the panel metering information based on the channellineup and content programming information. In some exampleimplementations, the validator 208 may determine, based on the panelmetering information, if the corresponding wireless communication device104 was roaming outside of its local calling area and use the roaminginformation to retrieve the channel lineup and content programminginformation corresponding to the calling area in which the wirelesscommunication device 104 was roaming. Of course, the validator 208 mayadditionally or alternatively validate panel metering information basedon other criteria such as, for example, roaming status, time of day,technical issues affecting the wireless communication device 104, signalstrengths received by the wireless communication device 104, call usageinformation, on/off status information, etc. An example process that maybe used to validate the panel metering information is described below inconnection with the flowchart of FIG. 20B. The validator 208 then tagsvalid panel metering information entries as valid (block 2018) in thepanel metering information data structure 112.

The analyzer 1308 (FIG. 13) then determines whether it should analyzethe panel metering information with total anonymity (block 2020). Forexample, the analyzer 1308 may obtain a demographic option setting fromthe panel metering information stored in the panel metering informationdata structure 112. If the analyzer 1308 determines that it shouldanalyze the panel metering information with total anonymity (block2020), then the analyzer 1308 does not retrieve any demographic and/orpersonal information (block 2022).

If the analyzer 1308 determines that it should not analyze the panelmetering information with total anonymity (block 2020), then theanalyzer 1308 determines whether it should analyze the panel meteringinformation with partial anonymity (block 2024). If the analyzer 1308determines it should analyze the panel metering information with partialanonymity (block 2024), then the analyzer 1308 retrieves the wirelessdevice identifier 404 (FIGS. 4 and 11) and/or the postal zip code 618(FIGS. 6 and 11) (block 2026) from, for example, the panel meteringinformation stored in the panel metering information data structure 112.The analyzer 1308 then determines general demographic information basedon the postal zip code 618 (e.g., the general demographic information ofresidents living within the retrieved postal zip code) or thedemographic information interface 1306 retrieves partial demographicinformation based on the wireless device identifier 404 (block 2028)from, for example, the account information data structure 122 (FIG. 1).The demographic information interface 1306 may store the demographicand/or personal information in the demographic information datastructure 126 in the media measurement entity 102 for relatively quickeraccess during analyses by the analyzer 1308. In some exampleimplementations, the demographic information interface 1306 retrievesthe demographic and/or personal information from the account informationdata structure 122 and stores the demographic and/or personalinformation in the demographic information data structure 126.

If the analyzer 1308 determines that it should not analyze the panelmetering information with partial anonymity (block 2024), then thedemographic information interface 1306 retrieves substantial demographicand/or personal information (block 2030) from, for example, the panelmetering information stored in the panel metering information datastructure 112.

After the demographic information interface 1306 retrieves demographicand/or personal information at blocks 2030 or block 2028 or if thedemographic information interface 1306 does not retrieve any demographicand/or personal information at block 2022, the analyzer 1308 analyzesthe panel metering information (block 2032) based on, for example, thereference metering information, channel lineup and content programminginformation, and/or any other information. In some exampleimplementations, the analyzer 1308 may analyze the panel meteringinformation based only on the panel metering information without anyother information. The report generator 1310 then generates reports(block 2034) based on the analyses performed by the analyzer 1308 andthen the process is ended.

Turning to FIG. 20B, the illustrated flowchart is representative of anexample process that may be used to implement the operations of block2016 (FIG. 20A) to validate the panel metering information obtained atblock 2012 (FIG. 20A). Initially, the panel metering informationinterface 1302 retrieves a panel metering information entry (or datarecord) (block 2052) from the panel metering information obtained atblock 2012 (FIG. 20A). The validator 208 then determines whether acorresponding reference metering information entry from the referencemetering information retrieved at block 2014 (FIG. 20A) exists for theretrieved panel metering information entry (block 2054). For example,the validator 208 can identify or retrieve one or more of a timestamp, achannel number, a channel name, and/or a media content provider ID fromthe panel metering information entry and determine whether a referencemetering information entry includes a substantially matching timestamp(e.g., some error between timestamps may be allowed to account forwireless device clock inaccuracies) and/or whether a reference meteringinformation entry includes a channel number, a channel name, and/or amedia content provider ID that matches respective information from thepanel metering information.

If the validator 208 determines that a corresponding reference meteringinformation entry exists for the retrieved panel metering informationentry (block 2054), the validator 208 retrieves the reference meteringinformation entry (block 2056) and determines whether mediaidentification information in the panel metering information entrymatches media identification information in the reference meteringinformation entry (block 2058). For example, the validator 208 canretrieve signatures and/or codes indicative of media content from thepanel and reference metering information entries and compare a panelmetering signature to a reference metering signature and/or a panelmetering code to a reference metering code to determine whether theinformation matches.

If the validator 208 determines that the media identificationinformation in the panel metering information entry matches the mediaidentification information in the reference metering information entry(block 2058), the validator 208 retrieves technical issues information(e.g., the technical issues information 704) from the panel meteringinformation entry (block 2060) and determines whether the technicalissues information is indicative of any problems that could adverselyaffect the presentation of media content by the wireless communicationdevice 104 (block 2062). For example, a damaged display could adverselyaffect a video portion of a media content presentation, a damagedspeaker or headset interface jack could adversely affect an audioportion of the media content presentation, damaged buttons couldadversely affect a user's interaction with a media content presentation,communication problems could adversely affect reception of the mediacontent, and other technical issues could adversely affect other aspectsof a media content presentation.

If the validator 208 determines that the technical issues information isnot indicative of problems that could adversely affect the presentationof media content (block 2062), the validator 208 tags the panel meteringinformation entry as valid (block 2064). Otherwise, if the validator 208determines that the technical issues information is indicative ofproblems that could adversely affect the presentation of media content(block 2062), the validator 208 tags the panel metering informationentry as suspect (block 2066). The validator 208 can also provide anexplanation or reason in the panel metering information entry for why itis tagged as suspect. In this manner, during subsequent analysis of thepanel metering information entry, the analyzer 1308 can use the suspecttag and/or the explanation or reason for the suspect tag to determine anamount of media exposure credit or media consumption credit to award,give, or attribute to a media content presentation identified by thepanel metering information entry.

After the validator 208 tags the panel metering information entry asvalid (block 2064) or suspect (block 2066), the validator 208 determineswhether a previous viewing session end time stored in the current panelmetering information entry (e.g., the previous viewing session end timeinformation 806 of the data record 808 c of FIG. 8) matches a sessionend time stored in a previous panel metering information entry (e.g.,the end time information 804 of the data record 808 b of FIG. 8) (block2068). If the validator 208 determines that the previous viewing sessionend time stored in the current panel metering information entry does notmatch the session end time stored in the previous panel meteringinformation entry (block 2068), the validator 208 generates informationindicating that data records are missing (block 2070) between thecurrent and previous panel metering information entries. The analyzer1308 can subsequently use the missing records information in connectionwith analyzing the panel metering information.

If the validator 208 determines that a corresponding reference meteringinformation entry does not exist for the retrieved panel meteringinformation entry (block 2054) or that the media identificationinformation in the panel metering information entry does not match themedia identification information in the reference metering informationentry (block 2058), the validator 208 tags the panel meteringinformation entry as invalid (block 2072). In some exampleimplementations, the validator 208 may additionally or alternatively tagthe panel metering information entry as not associated with mediacontent presented by the wireless communication device 104. For example,if a microphone (e.g., the microphone 2204 of FIGS. 22A, 22B, and 23) isused to detect audio portions of media content presentations, themicrophone may sometimes detect audio associated with media contentpresented by devices other than the wireless communication device 104that are in proximity to the wireless communication device 104. Taggingthe panel metering information entry as not associated with mediacontent presented by the wireless communication device 104 enables theanalyzer 1308 to generate analysis information indicative of mediacontent to which a user of the wireless communication device 104 wasexposed to or that the user consumed, but that was not presented by thewireless communication device 104.

After the validator 208 tags the panel metering information entry asinvalid (block 2072) or after the validator 208 generates the missingdata records information (block 2070) or if the validator 208 determinesthat the previous viewing session end time stored in the current panelmetering information entry matches the session end time stored in theprevious panel metering information entry (block 2068), the validator208 determines whether to retrieve another panel metering informationentry (block 2074). For example, if panel metering information entriesremain to be validated, the validator 208 can determine that it shouldretrieve another panel metering information entry. If the validator 208determines that it should retrieve another panel metering informationentry (block 2074), control returns to block 2052 and the validator 208retrieves another panel metering information entry. Otherwise, theprocess of FIG. 20B ends and control returns to a calling process orfunction such as, for example, the example process of FIG. 20A.

FIGS. 21A and 21B depict a flowchart representative of an exampleprocess that may be performed to retrieve panel metering informationcollected and/or generated by a wireless communication device 104. Theflowchart of FIGS. 21A and 21B may be used to implement the operationsof block 2012 of FIG. 20. The operations discussed below may beimplemented by the panel metering information interface 1302 to retrievepanel metering information from the panel metering information datastructure 112 (FIGS. 1-3 and 13). To determine the types of panelmetering information that should be retrieved, the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 can check an analysis setting to determinethe type of analysis that is to be performed by the analyzer 1308 (FIG.13) and/or the type of report that is to be generated by the reportgenerator 1310 (FIG. 13).

Initially, the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves thestart time information 802 (FIGS. 8 and 11) (block 2102). The panelmetering information interface 1302 then determines whether it shouldretrieve data packet information (block 2104). If the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines that it should retrieve datapacket information (block 2104), the panel metering informationinterface 1302 retrieves the data packet information (block 2106).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves the datapacket information (block 2106) or if the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve the data packetinformation (block 2104), the panel metering information interface 1302determines whether it should retrieve codes (block 2108) such as, forexample, ancillary audio codes, ancillary video codes, ancillarygraphics codes, etc. If the panel metering information interface 1302determines that it should retrieve codes, the panel metering informationinterface 1302 retrieves the codes (block 2110).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves the codes(block 2110) or if the panel metering information interface 1302determines that it should not retrieve codes (block 2108), the panelmetering information interface 1302 determines whether it shouldretrieve signatures (block 2112) such as, for example, audio signatures,video signatures, graphics signatures, etc. If the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines that it should retrieve signatures(block 2112), the panel metering information interface 1302 retrievesthe signatures (block 2114).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves thesignatures (block 2114) or if the panel metering information interface1302 determines that it should not retrieve signatures (block 2112), thepanel metering information interface 1302 determines whether it shouldretrieve cell tower information (block 2116) such as, for example,transmitting tower identification information 926 (FIG. 9). If the panelmetering information interface 1302 determines that it should retrievecell tower information (block 2116), the panel metering informationinterface 1302 retrieves the cell tower information (block 2118).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves the celltower information (block 2118) or if the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve the cell towerinformation (block 2116), the panel metering information interface 1302determines whether it should retrieve location information (block 2120).If the panel metering information interface 1302 determines that itshould retrieve location information (block 2120), the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 retrieves the location information from thelocation interface 1212 (block 2122).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves thelocation information (block 2122) or if the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve the locationinformation (block 2120), the panel metering information interface 1302determines whether it should retrieve transmission quality information(block 2124). If the panel metering information interface 1302determines that it should retrieve transmission quality information(block 2124), the panel metering information interface 1302 retrievesthe transmission quality information (block 2126).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves thetransmission quality information (block 2126) or if the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve thetransmission quality information (block 2124), the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines whether it should retrieve mediaquality information (block 2128). If the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should retrieve media qualityinformation (block 2128), the panel metering information interface 1302retrieves the media quality information (block 2130).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves the mediaquality information (block 2130) or if the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve the media qualityinformation (block 2128), the panel metering information interface 1302determines whether it should retrieve media presentation information(block 2132). If the panel metering information interface 1302determines that it should retrieve the media presentation information(block 2132), the panel metering information interface 1302 retrievesthe media presentation information (block 2134).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves the mediapresentation information (block 2134) or if the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve themedia presentation information (block 2132), the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines whether it should retrieve devicestatus information (block 2136). If the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should retrieve device statusinformation (block 2136), the panel metering information interface 1302retrieves the device status information (block 2138).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves the devicestatus information (block 2138) or if the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve the device statusinformation (block 2136), the panel metering information interface 1302determines whether it should retrieve application usage information(block 2140) (FIG. 21B). If the panel metering information interface1302 determines that it should retrieve application usage information(block 2140), the panel metering information interface 1302 retrievesthe application usage information (block 2142).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves theapplication usage information (block 2142) or if the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve theapplication usage information (block 2140), the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines whether it should retrieve phonecall usage information (block 2144). If the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should retrieve phone call usageinformation (block 2144), the panel metering information interface 1302retrieves the phone call usage information (block 2146).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves the phonecall usage information (block 2146) or if the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve the phone callusage information (block 2144), the panel metering information interface1302 determines whether it should retrieve roaming information (block2148). If the panel metering information interface 1302 determines thatit should retrieve roaming information (block 2148), the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 retrieves the roaming information (block2150).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves theroaming information (block 2150) or if the panel metering informationinterface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve the roaminginformation (block 2148), the panel metering information interface 1302determines whether it should retrieve technical issues information(block 2152). If the panel metering information interface 1302determines that it should retrieve technical issues information (block2152), the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves thetechnical issues information (block 2154).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves thetechnical issues information (block 2154) or if the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines that it should not retrievetechnical issues information (block 2152), the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines whether it should retrievecarrying device information (bloc 2156). If the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines that it should retrieve thecarrying device information (block 2156), the panel metering informationinterface 1302 retrieves the carrying device information (block 2158).

After the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieves thecarrying device information (block 2158) or if the panel meteringinformation interface 1302 determines that it should not retrieve thecarrying device information (block 2156), the process of FIGS. 21A and21B is ended and control returns to the flowchart of FIG. 20.

FIGS. 22A and 22B depict an example implementation of an examplewireless communication device 104 of FIGS. 1-3. In particular, FIG. 22Ais a front view and FIG. 22B is a side view of the example wirelesscommunication device 104 used to present media content and generatepanel metering information based on the presented media content. In theillustrated example of FIGS. 22A and 22B, the example wirelesscommunication device 104 is configured to generate the panel meteringinformation based on audio emitted by the wireless communication device104. As will be readily appreciated, such audio corresponds to mediacontent presented by the wireless communication device 104.

In the illustrated example, the example wireless communication device104 is provided with a speaker 2202 to emit audio of media contentreceived, decoded, and presented by the wireless communication device104. Although the speaker 2202 is shown as being the speaker used toemit audio associated with telephone calls made using the wirelesscommunication device 104, in other example implementations, the speaker2202 may be separate from a speaker of the wireless communication deviceused to emit audio associated with telephone calls.

To sense or detect ambient audio, the example wireless communicationdevice 104 is provided with a microphone 2204. In the illustratedexample, the microphone 2204 is configured to receive (e.g., sense ordetect) the voice of the user 108 in connection with telephone callsmade via the wireless communication device 104 and is configured totranslate the received voice-audio to electrical signals and communicatethe voice-audio electrical signals to a communication subsystem (notshown) of the wireless communication device 104 to transmit thevoice-audio information wirelessly via a cellular communication systemin connection with a telephone call. In the illustrated example, theexample wireless communication device 104 is also configured to use themicrophone 2204 as an ambient audio detector to detect or sense audioemitted by the speaker 2202 related to media content presented by thewireless communication device 104. Thus, in the illustrated example, themicrophone 204 is used in connection with detecting voice-audio formaking telephone calls and for detecting audio emitted by the speaker2202 to generate panel metering information.

As shown in FIG. 22B, the speaker 2202 emits audio signals 2212 inconnection with media content presented by the wireless communicationdevice 104. As shown, some of the audio signals 2212 propagate away fromthe wireless communication device 104. However, some of the audiosignals 2212 such as, for example, audio signal 2212 a, propagate to themicrophone 2204. The microphone 2204 detects the audio signal 2212 a,and the wireless communication device 104 can generate panel meteringinformation based on the detected audio signal 2212 a by generatingaudio signatures based on the audio signal 2212 a or by extractingancillary audio codes from the audio signal 2212 a. Although the audiosignal 2212 a is shown as propagating to the microphone 2204 outside thehousing of the wireless communication device 104, other audio signalsemitted by the speaker 2202 and detected by the microphone 2204 maypropagate from the speaker 2202 to the microphone 2204 inside thehousing of the wireless communication device 104.

The speaker 2202 is in relatively close proximity to the microphone2204, and thus, the audio signal 2212 a emitted by the speaker 2202 isrelatively more dominant than other ambient audio (e.g., surroundingnoise or other audio in the general area in which the wirelesscommunication device 104 is located) detected by the microphone 2204. Ametering process (e.g., a metering process implemented by the meter 202of FIG. 2) used to generate and/or collect the panel meteringinformation can filter audio signals detected by the microphone 2204 toidentify and/or select the audio signals emitted by the speaker 2202.For example, the metering process can measure audio signal volume,strength, amplitude, signal-to-noise ratio, etc. and compare themeasured values to threshold values used to filter out audio signals notemitted by the speaker 2202 (e.g., room noise). In this manner, themetering process can generate and/or collect panel metering informationcorresponding to the audio signals associated with media contentpresented by the wireless communication device 104 instead of othersurrounding noise or audio not generated by the speaker 2202, butdetected by the microphone 2204.

In other example implementations, a metering process (e.g., a meteringprocess implemented by the meter 202 of FIG. 2) of the wirelesscommunication device 104 can be configured to generate signatures orcollect codes associated with any audio detected by the microphone 2204,and the media measurement entity 102 can subsequently discard or anygenerated signatures or collected codes for which reference meteringinformation does not exist or any generated signatures or collectedcodes that the media measurement entity 102 otherwise determines are notindicative of media content presented by the wireless communicationdevice 104 (e.g., signatures corresponding with surrounding audio notgenerated by the speaker 2202). In an alternative exampleimplementation, the media measurement entity 102 may be configured totag any generated signatures or collected codes as being associated withmedia content presentations to which a user of the wirelesscommunication device 104 was exposed to or consumed but that were notpresented by the wireless communication device 104. In this manner, themeter 202 of the wireless communication device 104 may be used togenerate panel metering information based on media content presented bymedia presentation device (e.g., televisions, radios, video players,audio players, etc.) in proximity to the wireless communication device104 to subsequently identify media content presentations to which theuser of the wireless communication device 104 was exposed and/or whichthe user consumed.

In yet other example implementations, a status monitoring process of thewireless communication device 104 can be configured to determine whenmedia presentation software (e.g., an audio and/or video player, agaming application, etc.) is being executed by the wirelesscommunication device 104. A metering process can then be configured togenerate signatures and/or collect codes associated with audio detectedby the microphone 2204 only when the status monitoring process indicatesthat the wireless communication device 104 is executing mediapresentation software. In some example implementations, an applicationmonitoring process of the wireless communication device 104 can beconfigured to detect operating modes of or commands (e.g., play, stop,pause, skip, rewind, fastforward, etc.) received by the mediapresentation software, and the metering process may be configured togenerate signatures and/or collect codes associated with audio detectedby the microphone 2204 only when the application monitoring processindicates that the media presentation software is presenting media(e.g., is in a playback mode) instead of being in a paused or stoppedmode.

FIG. 23 is a detailed depiction of the wireless communication device 104having a metering module 2302 configured to receive audio signals from amicrophone line 2304 of the wireless communication device 104. Themetering module 2302 may be used to implement the example meter 202 ofFIG. 2. The wireless communication device 104 also includes wirelesscommunication device circuitry 2306 to perform functions ordinarilyassociated with a wireless communication device such as, for example, ahandheld cellular communication device (e.g., a cellular telephone). Thewireless communication device circuitry 2306 may be circuitry ordinarilyprovided by a wireless communication device manufacturer to enable awireless communication device to perform its communication functions andmedia presentation functions. The metering module 2302 can be an add-onmodule provided by, for example, the media measurement entity 102(FIG. 1) to generate and/or collect panel metering information based onthe media content presented by the wireless communication device 104using its wireless communication device circuitry 2306. The meteringmodule 2302 can be configured to be incorporated into a wirelesscommunication device in an after-market process. For example, the mediameasurement entity 102 can install the metering module 2302 into or ontothe wireless communication device 104 and couple the metering module2302 to the microphone line 2304. In some example implementations, themetering module 2302 can be configured to be installed internal orexternal to the housing of the wireless communication device 104. Themetering module 2302 may be implemented using one or more circuitboards.

In the illustrated example, the metering module 2302 includes themetering information/generator collector 1210 of FIG. 12. The meteringmodule 2302 is provided with an audio sensor interface 2310 configuredto be communicatively coupled to the microphone 2204 to receive audiosignals detected by the microphone 2204. The metering module 2302 mayalso be provided with a memory 2312 to store panel metering informationand a memory interface 2314 to access the information in the memory2312. In some example implementations, the metering module 2302 may alsoinclude a communication interface 2316 (e.g., a serial communicationinterface) to communicatively couple the metering module 2302 to thewireless communication device circuitry 2306 to communicate panelmetering information to the media measurement entity 102 via a wirelesscommunication interface (e.g., the communication interface 1202 of FIG.12) of the wireless communication device 104. For example, thecommunication interface 2316 of the metering module 2302 may becommunicatively coupled to communication lines of an accessory port 2322of the wireless communication device 104 to enable the metering module2302 to control the communication operations of the wirelesscommunication device 104 (e.g., the metering module 2302 may use thewireless communication device circuitry 2306 as a modem).

Although not shown in FIG. 23, the status monitor 1214 and theapplication monitor 1216 of FIG. 12 can be implemented on the meteringmodule 2302 and/or on the wireless device circuitry 2306. If themonitors 1214 and 1216 are implemented on the metering module 2302, themonitors 1214 and 1216 can be configured to monitor the operation of thewireless device circuitry 2306 via the communication interface 2316. Forexample, the wireless device circuitry 2306 can be configured tocommunicate messages or signals to the accessory port 2322 indicative ofits operations or events. The communication interface 2316 can detectthe messages or signals and communicate the messages or signals to themonitors 1214 and 1216.

In some example implementations, the metering module 2302 may beprovided with an input interface 2324 configured to be communicativelycoupled to a speaker output interface (e.g., output speaker lines) ofthe speaker 2202 to detect audio signals emitted by the speaker 2202. Inthis manner, instead of generating signatures or collecting codes basedon audio signals detected by the microphone 2204, the metering module2302 can generate signatures and/or collect codes based on audio signalsdetected at a speaker output interface.

In other example implementations, the meter 202 of FIG. 2 may beimplemented in software and/or hardware implemented in connection withthe wireless communication device circuitry 2306. In this manner, aseparate module (e.g., the metering module 2302) would not be required.

FIG. 24 depicts an example event data structure 2400 that the meter 202(FIGS. 2 and 3) may use to store operation and/or status eventinformation entries 2402 a-f indicative of the operating status of thewireless communication device 104 at different times. In particular, themetering information generator/collector 1210 of FIG. 12 can logdetected events in the event data structure 2400 and timestamp the eventinformation to create the timestamped event information entries 2402 a-fbased on information received from the status monitor 1214 and theapplication monitor 1216 of FIG. 12 indicative of operations or eventsof the wireless communication device 104 described above in connectionwith FIGS. 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11. In the illustrated example of FIG. 24,the example entries 2402 a-f indicate when the wireless communicationdevice 104 is turned on (e.g., the entry 2402 a), when the wirelesscommunication device 104 is charging (e.g., the entry 2402 b), when thewireless communication device 104 instantiates a media presentationapplication (e.g., an audio and/or video media player, a web browser,video game, etc.) for use in presenting media content (e.g., the entry2402 c), when the wireless communication device 104 exits the mediapresentation application (e.g., the entry 2402 d), and/or when thewireless communication device 104 is turned off (e.g., the entry 2402e).

The media measurement entity 102 can use the timestamped event entries2402 a-f of the event data structure 2400 to determine which generatedsignatures and/or collected codes correspond to media content presentedby the wireless communication device 104 and which generated signaturesand/or collected codes correspond to other ambient audio (e.g., noise orother audio emitted in areas in which the wireless communication device104 was located while generating/collecting metering information)detected by the microphone 2204 (FIGS. 22A, 22B, and 23). For example,the media measurement entity 102 may determine that any signaturesgenerated (and/or codes collected) between the times corresponding tothe timestamps of the entries 2402 d and 2402 e correspond to or arelikely to correspond to media content presented by the wirelesscommunication device 104 because a media presentation application of thewireless communication device 104 was in use during that time.

FIG. 25 depicts an example signature data structure 2500 that the meter202 (FIGS. 2 and 3) may use to store generated signatures. Inparticular, the metering information generator/collector 1210 (FIG. 12)can store generated audio signatures in the example signature datastructure 2500, and the metering information generator/collector 1210(FIG. 12) can tag each signature with a respective timestamp to generatethe timestamped audio signature entries 2502 a-f. Although not shown, adata structure similar to the example signature data structure 2500 canbe used to store other types of panel metering information such as, forexample, audio codes collected from presented media content.

In some example implementations, the status monitor 1214 and/or theapplication monitor 1216 (FIG. 12) may also be configured to collectother information (e.g., metadata) associated with the presented mediacontent. For example, the monitors 1214 and 1216 may be configured tocollect media file names, media content source identifiers, etc., andthe metering information generator/collector 1210 can store theadditional information in one or more other data structures (e.g., theexample data structure 1100 of FIG. 11). In some exampleimplementations, the media file names and/or media content sources canbe used to identify the media content presented by the wirelesscommunication device 104 and the generated measurement signatures (orcollected codes) can be used to determine the amount of media contentprograms (e.g., songs, radio/video programs, movies, etc.) that thewireless communication device 104 actually presented. For example, insome cases, the user 108 may elect to listen to an entire song, while inother cases, the user 108 may listen to only a portion of a song.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to generate signatures based on audio detected by themicrophone 2204 of FIGS. 22A, 22B, and 23. The signatures may begenerated by the metering information generator/collector 1210, whichcan store the signatures in the data structure 2500 of FIG. 25 inassociation with respective timestamps. Although the example process ofFIG. 26 is described in connection with generating signatures, theexample process of FIG. 26 may additionally or alternatively be used tocollect audio codes from detected audio.

Initially, the metering information generator/collector 1210 determineswhether it should generate signatures based on all audio detected (block2602) by, for example, the microphone 2204 (FIGS. 22A, 22B, and 23). Forexample, the metering information generator/collector 1210 may check aconfiguration bit of, for example, the example apparatus 1200 todetermine whether it should generate signatures based on all detectedaudio without filtering out or discarding detected audio signals orwithout requiring the wireless communication device 104 to be in aparticular operating mode (e.g., without requiring media presentationsoftware to be in use). If the metering information generator/collector1210 determines that it should generate signatures based on all detectedaudio (block 2602), the metering information generator/collector 1210generates signatures based on all detected audio (block 2604) byobtaining audio signals based on, for example, timed intervals orwhenever the microphone 2204 detects the audio signals.

If the metering information generator/collector 1210 determines that itshould not generate signatures based on all detected audio (block 2602),the metering information generator/collector 1210 determines whether itshould generate signatures based on detected audio signals havingparticular characteristics (block 2606). For example, the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 may generate signatures based onlyon audio signals having a signal characteristic (e.g., a volume, astrength, an amplitude, a signal-to-noise ratio, etc.) greater than athreshold value to substantially reduce or eliminate generatingsignatures associated with audio not emitted by the wirelesscommunication device 104. The metering information generator/collector1210 may check a configuration bit of, for example, the exampleapparatus 1200 to determine whether it should generate signatures basedon detected audio signals having particular characteristics. If themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines that it shouldgenerate signatures based on detected audio signals having particularcharacteristics (block 2606), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 generates signatures based on detected audiosignals that have particular characteristics.

If the metering information generator/collector 1210 determines that itshould not generate signatures based on detected audio signals havingparticular characteristics (block 2606), the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 determines whether it should generatesignatures only when a media presentation application is in use (block2610). For example, the metering information generator/collector 1210may generate signatures based on audio signals detected only when thestatus monitor 1214 and/or the application monitor 1216 of FIG. 12indicates that a media presentation application is being executed by thewireless communication device 104. The metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may check a configuration bit of, for example,the example apparatus 1200 to determine whether it should generatesignatures only when a media presentation application is in use.

If the metering information generator/collector 1210 determines that itshould generate signatures only when a media presentation application isin use (block 2610), the metering information generator/collector 1210determines whether it should generate signatures based on an operatingmode (e.g., a playback mode) of the media presentation application(block 2612). For example, the metering information generator/collector1210 may generate signatures based on audio signals detected only whenthe status monitor 1214 and/or the application monitor 1216 of FIG. 12indicates that media presentation application is in a playback mode topresent media content. That is, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may be configured not to generate signaturesbased on audio signals detected during a time that a media presentationapplication is in a stop mode or a pause mode. The metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may check a configuration bit of, for example,the example apparatus 1200 to determine whether it should generatesignatures based on an operating mode of the media presentationapplication. If the metering information generator/collector 1210determines that it should generate signatures based on an operating modeof the media presentation application, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 generates signatures based on an operating modeof the media presentation application (block 2614).

If the metering information generator/collector 1210 determines at block2610 that it should not generate signatures based on an operating modeof the media presentation application (block 2612), the meteringinformation generator/collector 1210 generates signatures based on audiosignals detected any time during which the media presentationapplication is in use (block 2616).

After the metering information generator/collector 1210 generatessignatures in connection with blocks 2616, 2614, 2608, or 2604 or if themetering information generator/collector 1210 determines that it shouldnot generate signatures only when a media presentation application is inuse (block 2610), the process of FIG. 26 is ended.

Although the conditions under which signatures are generated aredescribed in the example process of FIG. 26 as being applied separately,in other example implementations, conditions for generating signaturesmay be combined. For example, the metering informationgenerator/collector 1210 may be configured to generate signatures onlybased on audio signals having particular signal characteristics and thatwere detected when a media presentation application is in use and in aplayback mode.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart representative of an example process that may beperformed to analyze signatures generated by the wireless communicationdevice of FIGS. 1-3, 22A, 22B, and 23. In other example implementations,the example process of FIG. 27 may additionally or alternatively be usedto analyze collected codes. The example process of FIG. 27 may beperformed by the example system 1300 of FIG. 13 based on panel meteringinformation received from the wireless communication devices 104.

Initially, the panel metering information interface 1302 retrieveswireless communication device status information (block 2702) (e.g., thestatus information of FIG. 24) and signatures (block 2704) (e.g., thesignatures of FIG. 25) from the panel metering information datastructure 112 (FIGS. 1-3 and 13). The analyzer 1308 then determines thetimes during which media presentation applications were executed by thewireless communication device 104 (block 2706). For example, theanalyzer 1308 can retrieve the timestamps associated with status entries(e.g., the status entries 2402 d and 2402 e of FIG. 24) indicative thata media presentation application was instantiated and exited and basedon the retrieved status entries determine the times during which one ormore media presentation applications were in use.

The analyzer 1308 then selects signatures having timestampscorresponding to the times during which one or more media presentationapplications were in use (block 2708). The analyzer 1308 can thenanalyze the selected signatures (block 2710), for example, as describedabove in connection with the example process of FIG. 20. The exampleprocess of FIG. 27 is then ended.

In some example implementations, the analyzer 1308 may additionally oralternatively analyze signatures based on operating modes of mediapresentation applications. For example, the analyzer 1308 may retrievetimestamps associated with status entries (e.g., the usage data 936 ofFIGS. 9 and 11) indicative of operating modes of the media presentationapplications to determine when the media presentation applications wereactually presenting media content (e.g., were in a playback mode), andthe analyzer 1308 can retrieve only signatures that were generated whenthe media presentation applications were actually presenting mediacontent.

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of an example processor system that may beused to execute machine readable instructions to perform the exampleprocesses of FIGS. 14, 15, 16A, 16B, 17-19, 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 26, and27 to implement the example systems and/or methods described herein. Asshown in FIG. 28, the processor system 2810 includes a processor 2812that is coupled to an interconnection bus 2814. The processor 2812includes a register set or register space 2816, which is depicted inFIG. 28 as being entirely on-chip, but which could alternatively belocated entirely or partially off-chip and directly coupled to theprocessor 2812 via dedicated electrical connections and/or via theinterconnection bus 2814. The processor 2812 may be any suitableprocessor, processing unit or microprocessor. Although not shown in FIG.28, the system 2810 may be a multi-processor system and, thus, mayinclude one or more additional processors that are identical or similarto the processor 2812 and that are communicatively coupled to theinterconnection bus 2814.

The processor 2812 of FIG. 28 is coupled to a chipset 2818, whichincludes a memory controller 2820 and an input/output (I/O) controller2822. As is well known, a chipset typically provides I/O and memorymanagement functions as well as a plurality of general purpose and/orspecial purpose registers, timers, etc. that are accessible or used byone or more processors coupled to the chipset 2818. The memorycontroller 2820 performs functions that enable the processor 2812 (orprocessors if there are multiple processors) to access a system memory2824 and a mass storage memory 2825.

The system memory 2824 may include any desired type of volatile and/ornon-volatile memory such as, for example, static random access memory(SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), flash memory, read-onlymemory (ROM), etc. The mass storage memory 2825 may include any desiredtype of mass storage device including hard disk drives, optical drives,tape storage devices, etc.

The I/O controller 2822 performs functions that enable the processor2812 to communicate with peripheral input/output (I/O) devices 2826 and2828 and a network interface 2830 via an I/O bus 2832. The I/O devices2826 and 2828 may be any desired type of I/O device such as, forexample, a keyboard, a video display or monitor, a mouse, etc. Thenetwork interface 2830 may be, for example, an Ethernet device, anasynchronous transfer mode (ATM) device, an 802.11 device, a digitalsubscriber line (DSL) modem, a cable modem, a cellular communicationinterface, etc. that enables the processor system 2810 to communicatewith another processor system.

While the memory controller 2820 and the I/O controller 2822 aredepicted in FIG. 28 as separate functional blocks within the chipset2818, the functions performed by these blocks may be integrated within asingle semiconductor circuit or may be implemented using two or moreseparate integrated circuits.

Although certain methods, apparatus, systems, and articles ofmanufacture have been described herein, the scope of coverage of thispatent is not limited thereto. To the contrary, this patent covers allmethods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture fairly fallingwithin the scope of the appended claims either literally or under thedoctrine of equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to generate media monitoringinformation, comprising: a processor to collect a first data recordcorresponding to a first media presentation session, and collect asecond data record corresponding to a second media presentation session;and a memory in circuit with the processor, the memory to: store a firstend timestamp in the first data record indicative of a first time atwhich the first media presentation session ended; store a second endtimestamp in the second data record indicative of a second time at whichthe second media presentation session ended; and store the first endtimestamp in the second data record.
 2. The apparatus as defined inclaim 1, further including a validator to: access the first endtimestamp from the second data record; access the first end timestampfrom the first data record; and compare the first end timestamp from thesecond data record with the first end timestamp from the first datarecord to determine whether another data record is missing between thefirst and second data records.
 3. The apparatus as defined in claim 2,wherein the validator is further to generate information indicative of amissing data record when the first end timestamp from the second datarecord does not match the first end timestamp from the first datarecord.
 4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the first andsecond media presentation sessions are performed by a wirelesscommunication device.
 5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, whereinthe first media presentation session corresponds to presenting at leastone of first audio or first video, and the second media presentationsession corresponds to presenting at least one of second audio or secondvideo.
 6. An article of manufacture comprising computer readableinstructions that, when executed, cause a processor to at least: collecta first data record corresponding to a first media presentation session;store a first end timestamp in the first data record indicative of afirst time at which the first media presentation session ended; collecta second data record corresponding to a second media presentationsession; store a second end timestamp in the second data recordindicative of a second time at which the second media presentationsession ended; and store the first end timestamp in the second datarecord.
 7. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 6, wherein theinstructions are further to cause the processor to: access the first endtimestamp from the second data record; access the first end timestampfrom the first data record; and compare the first end timestamp from thesecond data record with the first end timestamp from the first datarecord to determine whether another data record is missing between thefirst and second data records.
 8. The article of manufacture as definedin claim 7, wherein the instructions are further to cause the processorto generate information indicative of a missing data record when thefirst end timestamp from the second data record does not match the firstend timestamp from the first data record.
 9. The article of manufactureas defined in claim 6, wherein the first and second media presentationsessions are performed by a wireless communication device.
 10. Thearticle of manufacture as defined in claim 6, wherein the first mediapresentation session corresponds to presenting at least one of firstaudio or first video, and the second media presentation sessioncorresponds to presenting at least one of second audio or second video.11. An article of manufacture comprising computer readable instructionsthat, when executed, cause a processor to at least: generate firstinformation indicative of a media presentation mode of a mediapresentation application executed by a wireless communication deviceduring a presentation of media received and presented via the wirelesscommunication device, the media including scheduled programming that isbroadcasted or multicasted simultaneously to a plurality of otherwireless communication devices during a pre-scheduled time; generatesecond information indicative of the media presented via the wirelesscommunication device; store the first information in association withthe second information in the wireless communication device; and storethird information in association with the first and second information,the third information to be indicative of at least one of a location ofa cell tower used to transmit the media to the wireless communicationdevice, an identifier of the cell tower, or an identifier of a wirelessnetwork access point used to transmit the media.
 12. The article ofmanufacture as defined in claim 11, wherein the instructions are furtherto cause the processor to extract identification information associatedwith the media from a data packet associated with receiving the media.13. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 11, wherein theinstructions are further to cause the processor to: extract at least oneof an audio code or a video code from the media, the extracted code toidentify at least one of the media, a media provider, or a mediaprogramming provider channel number used to communicate the media; andgenerate the second information based on the extracted code.
 14. Thearticle of manufacture as defined in claim 11, wherein the instructionsare further to cause the processor to: generate a signature based on themedia, the signature being at least one of an audio signature or a videosignature; and generate the second information based on the signature.15. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 11, wherein theinstructions are further to cause the processor to store locationinformation in association with the second information, the locationinformation indicative of a location of the wireless communicationdevice.
 16. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 11, whereinthe media presentation mode is at least one of a pause mode, a playmode, a stop mode, a fast forward mode, or a rewind mode.
 17. Thearticle of manufacture in claim 11, wherein the instructions are to beexecuted by the processor in a wireless communication device.
 18. Anarticle of manufacture comprising computer readable instructions that,when executed, cause a processor to at least: store a first datastructure including reference metering information generated by a firstwireless communication device and indicative of a plurality of mediareceived at the first wireless communication device from a transmittingentity; store a second data structure including panel meteringinformation generated by a second wireless communication device andindicative of at least some of the media received by the second wirelesscommunication device; and determine the validity of the panel meteringinformation based on the reference metering information.
 19. The articleof manufacture as defined in claim 18, wherein the instructions arefurther to cause the processor to determine the validity of the panelmetering information by comparing first data in the panel meteringinformation to second data in the reference metering information. 20.The article of manufacture as defined in claim 19, wherein the firstdata is associated with a first timestamp, and the instructions arefurther to cause the processor to select the second data based on asecond timestamp of the second data corresponding to the firsttimestamp.
 21. The article of manufacture as defined in claim 19,wherein the first data and the second data include channel information,date information, and time information.
 22. The article of manufactureas defined in claim 18, wherein the panel metering information isrepresentative of the second wireless communication device switchingbetween a plurality of channels and obtaining at least some of the mediaprovided via each channel.
 23. The article of manufacture as defined inclaim 18, wherein the panel metering information includes at least oneof a service provider identifier, a content type identifier, a programidentifier, or a channel identifier.
 24. The article of manufacture asdefined in claim 18, wherein the plurality of media is received at thefirst wireless communication device from the transmitting entity via acellular network.
 25. An article of manufacture comprising computerreadable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to atleast: obtain first information indicative of media presented via awireless communication device; generate second information indicative ofa technical issue corresponding to the operability of the wirelesscommunication device that affects user-consumption of the media during apresentation of the media; store the first information in associationwith the second information; and store timestamp information inassociation with the first information and the second information, thetimestamp information to include a first timestamp stored in associationwith the first information and a second timestamp stored in associationwith the second information, and a substantial match between the firstand second timestamps to indicate that the technical issue occurredduring a presentation of the media.
 26. The article of manufacture asdefined in claim 25, wherein the technical issue is indicative of aproblem with at least one of hardware, software, or communications. 27.The article of manufacture as defined in claim 25, wherein theinstructions are further to cause the processor to generate the secondinformation by tagging the first information as suspect and providing areason for tagging the first information as suspect.
 28. The article ofmanufacture as defined in claim 25, wherein the instructions are furtherto cause the processor to use the second information to determine theamount of media exposure credit or media consumption credit to attributeto a media presentation indicated by the first information.
 29. Thearticle of manufacture as defined in claim 25, wherein the instructionsare further to cause the processor to store time information indicativeof a duration for which the media was presented via the wirelesscommunication device.
 30. The article of manufacture as defined in claim25, wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor tocorrelate the user-consumption of the media with data transmissionquality.